Monday, 30 October 2017
Sexual Transmitted Infections/Diseases (STI/STD) are increasingly resulting in millions of health care costs. STI continue to remain a public health concern among young adults. The risky sexual behaviors of college students, such as multiple partners, inconsistent condom use, and substance abuse; increase the risk of several negative health issues including STI/ Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). According to the Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention (CDC) (2014), while young adults (15-24 years old) account for only 25 % of all sexually active adults, they account for over half of the newly diagnosed cases of sexually transmitted infections in the United States in a year. Students enter college with wide-ranging sexual health education backgrounds due to the difference in core curriculum in schools across the United States. Turchik et al., (2010), found that on most college campuses there are no sound implemented sexual health programs, nor theory based STI and HIV prevention programs. Studies have shown that skill-based interventions aiming at behavioral change have had a positive effect in reducing the rate of STIs and HIV (Turchik et al., 2010). This proposed project intends to provide students with the education and resources necessary for protection against STIs and HIV. The project will be conducted in a mid-sized HBCU college in Northeastern United States. Bandura’s Social Cognitive (SCT) Theory and Logic model will provide the project’s theoretical framework. The SCT will be used for the development of the sexual health education program. Pretest data will be collected by online questionnaire survey. The intervention group will consist of 20 participants selected from the questionnaire responses. The group will receive sexual health education by a professional health instructor; followed by a question and answer forum. The post-test will be administered after the intervention. The resulting data will be analyzed using descriptive statistics, frequencies, chi-squared, and paired t-test to determine any relationships and statistical significance.