Created and piloted in 2016, the curriculum focuses on families in rural communities. Over the course of three years, the program was offered 57 times in rural communities in Alaska, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Mississippi, New York, Oregon, Utah, and Washington.
LiFT focuses on improving and increasing communication between youth and their supportive adults, increasing family connectedness and increasing youth self-efficacy. This creates a foundation to positive outcomes, one of which is reducing unplanned pregnancies. The course covers a variety of topics ranging from condom use to communication skills.
The course is usually broken up into two 2.5 hour modules, which parenting adults and youth attend in simultaneous but separate classes taught by trained facilitators. LiFT includes opt-in weekly texts that offer additional resources, and a phone call to follow up three to five weeks after the course’s completion.
Overall, studies have found that the majority of the youth who have completed the course choose not to engage in unprotected sex in the year following the course.
“The LiFT program is a wonderful opportunity for young people, parents and families to build and strengthen our self-esteem, self-worth and self-efficacy. Our daughter feels more confident in having difficult conversations with her peers and with us and we, as parents, feel reassured we are on the right track...,” said a LiFT parent participant in Maui.
LiFT was recently featured in the Sept 2021 issue of the Journal of Adolescent Health, which stated: “LiFT achieved lasting effects on increasing parent-child communication and youth self-efficacy to prevent unwanted pregnancies a full year following the brief, family-focused workshop. LiFT’s impact on pregnancy was significant at three months and trended in the right direction at 12 months.”
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Tags: sexeducation