CONTRACEPTIVE HEALTH-PROGRAMS FOR ADOLESCENTS - A CRITICAL-REVIEW

Many adolescents are neither educated about contraception nor consiste ntly practice it as part of their sexual health behavior. Contraceptiv e education has taken many forms and has been questioned as to its eff ectiveness. This paper reviews some of the contraceptive education pro grams that have been designed for adolescents. These programs, althoug h targeting the adolescent population, differ in educational process b ased on the delivery setting. School-based, community-based, and colle ge/university-based programs are reviewed and discussed in terms of th eir effectiveness, potential, and limitations. Educating adolescents a bout contraception should incorporate the cognitive, affective, and sk ill-based domains of learning, with outcome expectations based on the specific delivery setting. However, not all settings have the freedom to select from a variety of teaching methodologies. Thus, educational accountability in each setting should differ in terms of outcome expec tations, particularly if the program evaluation includes behavioral co mponents.