Below are 5 tips to help make your SPORT and InShape Prevention Plus Wellness programs fun and interesting to participating youth and young adults.
- When implementing to youth one-on-one, as an individual intervention, read only one response (e.g., the Yes or No response) for each screening survey item. That way you will not be repeating yourself and the session will go quicker.
- Provide feedback using the program script as quickly as possible, and with as much enthusiasm and energy as possible. Don’t forget to use good eye contact with your youth. PPW programs are screening and brief interventions designed to quickly motivate change by providing young people with feedback on their current health habits and cueing positive peer and future desired images of themselves engaged in series of fitness and health behaviors.
- Another strategy is to have youth advance the slides and even read them after your initial scripted comments during feedback. This will keep them engaged even more during the session.
- Consider adding one brief standardized reflection question per healthy behavior message that would ask youth how they could improve each health habit discussed. For the alcohol portion of the script, you can add a question asking the youth to identify what healthy alternatives they could use instead of drinking alcohol, e.g., non-alcohol drinks, regular exercise.
- Collect post-session youth reactions using the Feedback Form. Collecting the Screening Survey and Feedback Form from each youth will provide program fidelity and immediate pre-post session outcome data for monitoring how youth are reacting to the PPW program and its effects on changing key risk factors associated with both substance use and healthy habits addressed in your PPW program.
This last tip is critical and worth repeating. The only way you’ll know empirically how well the PPW lesson was received and what effects it is having is to collect and monitor youth reactions using the Screening Survey and Feedback Form.
These data can also be very helpful in promoting your PPW program to other youth, parents and key funding and support stakeholders, as well as making strategic changes to improve your initial program efforts and ensure maximum effectiveness of your program over time.
To learn more: http://preventionpluswellness.com
Please like and share these tips with others in your region and state. Thank you.