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Plain Talk - United States

Region

Global, North America

Programme Summary

Plain Talk is a neighbourhood-based initiative aimed at helping adults, parents, and community leaders develop the skills and tools they need to communicate effectively with young people about reducing sexual risk-taking. A 4-year project launched by the Annie E. Casey Foundation in 1993, Plain Talk was implemented in 5 urban USA neighbourhoods: Mechanicsville in Atlanta, Georgia; Logan Heights in San Diego, California; White Center in Seattle, Washington; St. Thomas in New Orleans, Louisiana; and Stowe Village in Hartford, Connecticut. Its goal was to protect young people from the risks associated with pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections (STIs), including HIV/AIDS; it was not an effort to prevent teens from having sex.

Communication Strategies

Plain Talk's strategies emerged from observations of the realities of young people's lives in specific communities; the emphasis was on addressing these realities in a way that would be meaningful. Having been provided with resources and tools, the communities were given 1 year to develop a plan and 3 years to implement it. While each plan looked different, they all reflected a commitment to the following basic principles:

  • Community residents should be central to the decision-making process because they have the biggest stake in changing community behaviour and norms.
  • Residents should come to a consensus about what changes are necessary.
  • Communities should have access to, or the means to obtain, reliable information about the problems and practices they are trying to address.
  • Adults should not deny the reality that some youth are sexually active.

Plain Talk teams worked to create consensus among a broad base of community adults regarding the urgency of changing teen sexual behaviour and the steps to address it. Exploring the root causes of adolescent sexual risk-taking, the residents of each Plain Talk community developed strategies suitable to their own culture and circumstances by applying these basic components:

  1. Community Mapping - a collaborative process that gave residents the tools to gather data about their own community's beliefs, norms, and practices. This process also became a first step in forging community awareness and motivation around the issue of adolescent sexual risk-taking. Research consultants provided training and logistical support to residents to enable them to collect essential information about their communities. Each community was then given draft survey instruments to use as starting points. Once residents finalised the survey instrument, trained residents conducted door-to-door surveys of between 300 and 700 adult neighbours. They also interviewed an equal number of neighborhood adolescents at youth-friendly locations, such as the local recreation centre. Data gathered from interviews was then processed and analysed by a core group of residents, lead agency staff, and local collaborating agencies. Participating residents further clarified findings by conducting follow-up interviews and focus groups.
  2. Resident Network - Plain Talk sites developed a network of supportive resident opinion leaders and spokespeople. These local leaders presented community mapping findings and argued for necessary community action regarding teen sexual health. In each neighbourhood, the network continued to be a primary means for disseminating information, recruiting residents to participate and gathering feedback about Plain Talk neighbourhood activities.
  3. Education and Skills Building - in each site, Plain Talk staff worked with interested residents to develop their skills as peer educators. In turn, residents created formal and informal educational opportunities for their neighbours, such as home health parties, support groups, and rites of passage ceremonies. They used communication techniques such as role plays and culturally appropriate fables as part of an effort to make messages relevant and to empower participants. Residents were the primary means of delivering messages to their neighbours (both adults and youth).
  4. Sustaining Resident Involvement and Leadership - through a variety of informal and formal leadership opportunities, residents assumed increased levels of responsibility for planning and carrying out activities. Residents took the lead in organising peer education and community-wide events, and represented Plain Talk to service providers and policy makers in the larger urban community. Such resident leadership was a strategy for ensuring that communication regarding adolescent sexual health remained attuned to the concerns and efforts of residents. It also empowered residents to tackle related issues and play a more integral role in the general well-being of their communities.

Click here to read about the specific activities carried out in each of the 4 communities.

Development Issues

Sexual Health, HIV/AIDS, Youth.

Key Points

In implementing Plain Talk, participants found that some strategies and approaches central to the project could be successfully replicated in more than one site. They also discovered, however, that each community's approach needed to be tailored to the unique personality and history of its residents. Organisers stress that what worked in these sites will not necessarily work in other communities, unless time, effort, and resources are put in place to support resident engagement, community mobilisation, and leadership development strategies. Click here to read more "lessons learned" from Plain Talk.


The Annie E. Casey Foundation continues to provide technical assistance resources and small grants to support special projects emerging from Plain Talk, such as local policy conferences and training conferences for new partners.

Contact

Plain Talk Atlanta
Cheryl Boykins
The Center for Black Women's Wellness
477 Windsor Street, SW Room 309
Atlanta, GA 30312 USA
Tel.: (404) 688-9202
Fax: (404) 880-9435
cheryl@cbww.org

Source

"Plain Talk: The Story of a Community-Based Strategy to Reduce Teen Pregnancy" on the Annie E. Casey Foundation site.


Placed on the Communication Initiative site February 02 2004
Last Updated February 02 2004

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