Every School Healthy: An Urban School Case Study.
Sue Baldwin, Assunta R C Ventresca
PMID 33184881WHAT IT FOUND
Sexual risk behaviors declined while condom non-use increased in a district with many school health programs running together.
No single program can be credited.
Key findings
01Middle school students reporting ever having sex fell from 15.8% in 2011 to 8.0% in 2017, a 49.4% decrease, and the percent not using condoms was higher in 2017 than 2011, from 21.6% to 36.5%.
02High school students reporting ever having sex fell from 51.1% in 2011 to 31.1% in 2017, the percent not using condoms was higher in 2017 than 2011, from 30.8% to 40%, and about 16% of sexually active high schoolers did not use any method to prevent pregnancy in 2017.
03The district changed curriculum, policy, professional development, parent engagement, adaptations, and nurse services together.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The paper does not describe a control group or random assignment, so survey trends cannot show that any program caused change. Many policies, curricula, professional development, parent engagement, community programs, and nurse services were implemented together, so their separate effects cannot be separated. The main outcome data are student survey responses over time, not clinical outcomes measured by therapists or nurses. The recommendations and claims about success are author descriptions of their own district work, not tested effects.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflict. A federal Teen Pregnancy and Prevention grant funded some programs.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the declines as proof that sexual health education or condom availability caused them. The district changed many programs and policies at once, and the paper does not report a control group.