Adolescence is a crucial phase in each person’s life. Adolescence is a transition phase in physical and mental development which is generally limited to the period from puberty to legal maturity. It is also a time of multiple transitions involving education, training, employment, and unemployment, as well as the development from one state of life to another.
Puberty is a unique life cycle that offers people particular challenges and opportunities. Adolescents consider as a crucial phase in human life that requires extreme parental care, guidance, and empathy. Only with caution, we can ensure that our youth grow into healthy adults who can help improve our society and become their leaders for a bright and prosperous future. Therefore, the goal of effective youth care requires systematic steps to prevent, detect and treat physical and mental disorders in young people.
Adolescence is an important time for promoting good health and preventing disease. Unfortunately, this important time is one that is sometimes overlooked. Adolescent health includes the physical, social, emotional, cognitive, and intellectual domains. It is important to understand the factors that can affect adolescent health so that organizations and individuals who work with youth can support the health and healthy development of all adolescents.
Adolescent Well-Visit
The National Survey for Children’s Health (NSCH) shows that the percentage of Delaware adolescents who have had a preventive medical visit in the past year declined from 2017 to 2018 but rose in 2019. In 2017, the percentage was 84.2%, while in 2018 the percentage declined to 70.2%. The 2019, Delaware’s percentage of adolescents who have had a preventive medical visit in the past year increased to 75.7%; however, reduced again to 71.9% during the 2019/2020 NSCH combined years. During our 2020 Needs Assessment, our stakeholders identified the adolescent well visit as the number two priority for this population domain and was ranked 7th, overall.
Using National Survey of Children’s Health (NSCH) data for 2016-2020 DE saw a 5-percentage point decline in two or more ACEs from 21.9% in 2019 to 16.4% in 2020. During the same timeframe, U.S. saw 1-percentage point decline in two or more ACEs from 18.7% in 2019 to 17.4% in 2020. The percentage of overweight children (85th to 94th percentile) in DE increased by 3-percentage points from 17.4% in 2019 to 20.7% in 2020 and obese children (95th percentile or above) by 1-percentage point from 18.4% in 2019 to 19.4% in 2020. The prevalence of overweight/obesity was highest among Black (non-Hispanic) 40.5% (95%CI: 32.4-48.6) and Hispanic 31.7% (95%CI: 22.6-40.7) children 10-17 years of age and highest among children below 200% FPL 41.7% (95%CI: 35.1-48.4). Similar to the U.S., the percent of adolescents (12-17 years) who had preventive medical visit decreased by 8-percentage points from 75.7% in 2019 to 68.5% in 2020. In general, preventive medical visits declined over 10-percentage points during 2016-2020.
In partnership with Planned Parenthood of Delaware, training is offered for staff at School Based Health Centers (SBHCs) each year. Planned Parenthood attendees range from School of the Deaf, Detention and Treatment Centers from within the Department of Services for Children Youth and Their Families (DSCYF), Delaware Adolescent Program Inc. (DAPI), SBHCs, middle schools, high schools as well as community agencies, partners and parents. In addition, mental health and medical providers participate in trainings provided by Planned Parenthood of Delaware throughout the year. The following list represents trainings provided thus far this year. COVID-19 continues to impact Planned Parenthoods trainings, while some trainings remain virtual other trainings have been offered in person. The following courses have taken place thus far:
|
3-day MPC/BPBR Curriculum Training |
In person |
Oct 12, 13 & 14, 2021 |
|
HIV Updates with Frank Hawkins |
Virtual |
10/21/2021 |
|
Curriculum Booster |
In person |
11/8/2021 |
|
Supporting LGBTQ+ Youth |
Virtual |
1/12/2022 |
|
Supporting LGBTQ+ Youth |
In person |
3/15/22 |
|
Supporting LGBTQ+ Youth |
In person |
3/18/22 |
|
Teaching Youth About Consent |
In person |
3/18/22 |
|
Virtual |
3/17/22 |
|
|
Teaching Youth About Healthy Relationships |
In person |
4/5/22 |
|
Supporting LGBTQIA+ Youth with Children & Families First DE |
Virtual |
10/11/21 |
|
Approachable Parent Workshop |
In person |
5/11/22 |
The Adolescent Health Program team attended a Teen Health Summit hosted by Planned Parenthood at Delaware Technical Community College in Wilmington, Delaware on June 16, 2022. Where remarks were given by Michelle Mathew, Bureau Chief, of Adolescent & Reproductive Health to give insight and information on SBHC services. Resources tables were hosted by multiple organizations and agencies to promote services and products available to increase adolescent and reproductive health throughout the community.
COVID-19 impacted School Based Health Centers across the state of Delaware this school year. A vast majority of schools have returned to in person learning with the option of remote learning and/or hybrid learning, increasing the accessing to SBHC’s at the beginning of the year. Many SBHC’s implemented telehealth at the onset of COVID which is still in place to ensure are students have access to treatment when needed. Upon availability of the vaccine to adolescents 12 and older, SBHC’s have coordinated efforts for the vaccine with medical vendors in the latter months of the school year.
COVID 19 efforts to promote education, testing, vaccines, and awareness has been promoted in various ways throughout the state. Using methods such as:
- Social Media
- Radio Stations
- Bulletin Boards
- School Staff
- SBHC Staff
- Flyers/Posters
- Medical Provider Websites
During the 2020/2021 school year, the School Based Health Centers in Delaware schools administered 912 depression screenings, 1,046 STD screenings, 1,836 Emotional (Mental Health) evaluations, and 6,295 risk assessments. In addition to this, SBHC’s in Delaware completed 759 physical exams (well child), 2,379 sports physicals, 171 administrative physicals (ex. ROTC, pre-employment), 1,838 immunizations, and 1,283 nutritional counseling sessions. These numbers have slightly decreased from the previous school year due to the pandemic.
The SBHC Operational meeting this year was held in conjunction with Title X Family planning on October 27, 2021, and May 18, 2022. It comprised of mental health and medical providers from SBHC’s, providers and administrative representatives from DPH Clinics, Federally Qualified Health Care Centers, Community Health Care Centers, Planned Parenthood as well as DPH/FHS staff. The Adolescent and Reproductive Health Department attended an Annual Summit with DHMIC on April 26, 2022. Training and topics focused on mental health and service delivery this year. Topics of discussion comprised of the following:
- Lauren Vasquez: Engaging Adolescents and their Caregivers in Reproductive Health on 10/27/2021
- Merigold Health, Community Wraparound Services, Holly Dixon, Manager Peer Services & Dr Tracey Cohen on 10/27/2021
- Angelina Spicer – Postpartum Depression on 04/26/2022
- Jennie Johnson- Reducing disparities and improving outcomes in health on 4/26/2022
- Dr. Teri Lawler: Project Thrives on 5/18/22
- Dr. Seila Raja: Trauma Informed Care on 5/18/22
In addition to the above training, the Adolescent and Reproductive Health Unit completed a virtual Leading with Equity: Creating Spaces Where All Youth Can Succeed June 28-30, 2022 with Family & Youth Services Bureau. This conference afforded DPH the opportunity to engage with multiple speakers, interactive workshop sessions and opportunities for networking.
Legislation was submitted and approved; House bill No. 129; awarding $170,000 to two high needs elementary schools per year until all high needs elementary schools are in compliance. There are currently 20 high need elementary schools in the state of Delaware. May 3, 2022, Kuumba Academy Charter School became a State Recognized School-Based Health Center Provider. As a SBHC they have applied for and are eligible to provide medical, mental health care treatment and health education to promote a healthy lifestyle. This center will serve children in grades K-8 allowing access to services such as sports physicals, reproductive health needs, and mental health counseling. May 9, 2022, Odessa High School became a State Recognized School-Based Center Provider, providing sports physicals, reproductive health needs and mental health counseling.
Mental and Behavioral health services continue to be an area of growth and development. In some locations SBHCs continue to struggle to provide services to students due to staffing shortages and frequent turnover rates. While others are able meet and exceed their projected goals to service for mental and behavioral health services. Some SBHCs are still experiencing difficulties servicing students due to the parameters of COVID 19; many have implemented telehealth services to provide an increasing needed service to students.
The Strategic Plan that was developed by the Division of Public Health/ Family Health Systems/Adolescent Health was an intense, virtual, strategic planning process in which 13 goals was established to produce a synchronized organization of SBHC’s across the state of Delaware. The plan is currently being implemented in all stages throughout the state with continued coordinated efforts with stakeholders such as the department of education, medical vendors, Delaware School-based health Alliance, etc. https://dethrives.com/sbhc. As we continue to implement the plan SBHC continues to evolve and develop allowing students to utilize services needed such as mental health, reproductive health and well visits.
Between 12/10 and 12/20/21, DEThrives’ Facebook page ran a single image newsfeed ad. The post featured information to raise awareness of the COVID-19 vaccine for children. The post built over 30K impressions (total number of times a user saw the ad) with 4 clicks and 3 post reactions. The link drove to a resource posted from DHSS which can be found here.
This past year, two Strategic Steering Committee Members, Dr. Jon Cooper (Co-Chair) and Dr. Aileen Fink (Co-Chair) along with a Pediatrician, Dr. Priscilla Mpasi, answered SBHC related questions for promotional purposes. The questions they answered were organized into short form videos in December 2021. The collection of videos can be viewed on the DEThrives’ YouTube channel on its own playlist found here and will be spread online to help with additional SBHC messaging and promotions. New materials and recognizable SBHC colors and imagery were created to share where SBHCs sites are throughout Delaware. This information was placed on newly created materials such as a site map, roadmap, and FAQ which can all be found on DHSS’ SBHC landing page and on DEThrives’ SBHC landing page at https://dethrives.com/sbhc.
An op-ed along with launching organic social media posts commenced phase one (explained below) for launching SBHC work on social media in February 2022. The op-ed was shared by partners such as the DOE and DPH to help spread the word of SBHCs. Also, this SBHC op-ed post ranked as one of the top performing FB posts for DEThrives during the Jan – March 2022 quarterly report.
Organic (free) SBHC related social media posts first started airing in February 2022. New content appears once every month since then. The one SBHC related post that had the most engagements (how users interact with the social media post) is one that was posted on DPH’s FB page in March 2022. The post provided a list of services SBHCs offer with eye catching imagery that went along with the new recognizable SBHC branding. DPH’s post earned 32 reactions (27 “likes”, 5 “loves”), 6 comments, and 6 shares compared to the 2 “likes” on DEThrives’ FB page. Also, this post ranked as one of the top performing Tweets on DEThrives’ Twitter page during the January – March 2022 quarterly report.
It was decided among the Bureau Chief for Adolescent & Reproductive Health and her team, that the launch of SBHC related info on social media will be done in two phases. Phase one consisted of overarching introductory messaging of SBHCs. The target audience for this phase was very broad which included stakeholders, state legislators, school administrators/principals, and parents in Delaware. Phase two will be implemented during the next grant cycle. The goal was to raise awareness that:
-
SBHCs exists in Delaware and there is an effort to develop more in elementary schools across the state. There are 33 high schools and 12 elementary schools participating in SBHCs in Delaware. Last year there were 32 high schools and 7 elementary schools participating in SBHCs currently.
- To inform the audience what SBHCs are and why they’re important
-
To describe the type of services SBHCs offer such as:
- Mental health services
- Physical exams
- Treatment for minor illnesses and injuries
- Health screenings
- Women’s health
- Reproductive health
- Immunizations
- Nutrition and weight management
DPH had previously signed multi-year MOUs with various school districts in an effort to support and build resilient children and improve the social and emotional wellness of children and adolescents. (https://www.lifeskillstraining.com/botvin-lifeskills-training-middle-school-program/). During the 2019/2020 school year, 12 middle schools representing 5 school districts completed the Botvin LifeSkills program. This represented 1,257 students who completed pre/post surveys.
Unfortunately, COVID-19 restrictions have impacted this program for another year. During both the 2020/2021 and 2021/2022 school years, there were no new schools and/or districts that delivered the program, and no new MOUs were signed. COVID also impacted the implementation in that all curriculum needed to be online and Botvin did not provide on online resource (i.e. – only paper workbooks) for students. Additionally, pre-post assessments are not available online for teachers to access. Unfortunately, this was a major barrier for teachers.
During the 2021/2022 school year, no data was collected regarding Botvin LifeSkills while children were online, and when the students finally went back to school, no new requests were received. As of now, the MOUs are all ended and no new materials for distribution have been purchased. Due to COVID, there is no longer a funding priority and no further opportunities through DPH.
DPH worked with members of the Delaware State Police (DSP), DOE, and the Department of Services for Youth, Children, and their Families (DSCYF) to explore implementation of a program called Take Care Delaware. This program is modeled closely to the Handle with Care Model that was implemented in West Virginia, Maryland and Tennessee. This program provides a statewide trauma informed response to child maltreatment and children’s exposure to violence. The model states that “If a law enforcement officer encounters a child during a call, that child’s information is forwarded to the school before the school bell rings the next day. The school implements individual, class and whole school trauma-sensitive curricula so that traumatized children are “Handled With Care". If a child needs more intervention, on-site trauma-focused mental healthcare is available at the school.”
As of this reporting period, the program has been implemented in eight different school districts across the state of Delaware. In addition, 10 Delaware law enforcement agencies are participating in the program. The program began during the 2021/2022 school year (9/1/21 – 6/10/22) and there have been 754 incidents generated, which equals to 1,039 notices.
Once this is complete, Take Care Delaware will begin the process again of scheduling meetings with New Castle County Vo-Tech and Charter Schools, as well. COVID -19 has unfortunately slowed this progress as well. We look forward to establishing a partnership with DSP to support this effort in an attempt to address the social determinant of health impact on children who are exposed to violence in the home.
For our selected prior of increasing the number of adolescents receiving a preventive well-visit annually to support their social, emotional and physical well-being, we have focused on access and availability of mental health resources.
We partner with our School Based Health Centers to address increasing the number adolescents who receive an annual preventive medical visit. Our School Based Health Centers offer mental health support and counseling so even though Bullying was not selected during this cycle, we still plan to support the emotional well-being of adolescents. MCH also understands that bullying behavior can be triggered at much earlier ages. With this in mind, our Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) program and our Early Childhood Comprehensive System (ECCS) programs have a focus on social and emotional wellness and provide materials and education to the families and communities they serve. School Based Health Centers have also expanded into elementary schools in Delaware as well.
During the last grant cycle, we began a partnership with the Cooperative Extension, University of Delaware, Health & Wellness Ambassadors. U of D Health Ambassadors are a team of Teen Leaders and Adult Mentors who advocate for a holistic healthy lifestyle across the state. Health and Wellness Ambassadors are role models and official representatives and promotors who help plan and implement the Delaware 4-H Healthy Living Program aimed at improving the health of themselves, their peers, and their community.
4-H Healthy Living Program topics include nutrition, fitness, mindfulness, substance prevention and life skills. Their goals are to promote healthy lifestyle choices, create media about healthy living, participate in community outreach and education, asset building, education, and promotion, and to create and facilitate community change.
The Health Ambassadors are trained in various holistic health topics and often help to teach programs in the community. They also help to plan and work at local healthy living events across the state. Adult Leaders are often college-aged health science major or graduates. Teen Leaders receive mentorship and support from Adult Leaders as part of the program.
Poor mental health in adolescence is more than feeling blue. It can impact many areas of a teen’s life. Youth with poor mental health may struggle with school, grades, decision making, and their health. Unfortunately, because of the Covid-19 pandemic, we were unable to fully partner with our School Based Health Centers and Delaware school districts during the 2021/2022 school year. Our hope was to work with the School Based Health Centers and the school districts to promote teens who need emotional and mental health treatment. Our goal is to begin the partnership once again with the Department of Education and the school districts to promote a health messaging campaign to address mental health treatment.
This year, DPH planned to work with the Department of Education to sponsor a poster contest that promoted teens to seek emotional and mental health treatment, when needed. Unfortunately, there is oftentimes a stigma associated with mental illness, emotional disturbances and seeking treatment. The purpose was for youth and adolescents to know they can request assistance when dealing with mental illness – and not feel ashamed about it. Mental illness can affect a person’s thinking, feeling, mood, or behaviors. Young adults should feel comfortable when asking for help when dealing with mental or emotional concerns and should never feel embarrassed.
The intention was for all Delaware middle school and high school students to be eligible to enter a creation to the poster contest. DPH was trying to raise awareness and reduce the stigma associated with seeking and accessing treatment for mental health concerns. We aimed to engage teens to creatively address the topic of mental and emotional wellbeing. Teens and young adults should be encouraged and feel comfortable when asking for help dealing with mental or emotional concerns. MCH strategized on the prizes, as we sought to keep them aligned with “health” in mind. We chose items such as an Apple or Garmin watch, Beats or AirPods, and a one-year subscription to Spotify. We hoped to get the youth excited about an item that could help keep track of health related topics such as exercising, walking, dancing, etc.
The original goal was to launch the poster contest in February 2022 during an annual DOE Teacher’s Expo. The intention was to advertise the poster contest to the teachers, who would take it on as a class project or an extra credit assignment. In addition, having the poster contest conclude before state testing began in April was ideal. Unfortunately, the expo was cancelled due to low response rates. In addition, the contest rules, criteria and prizes had not yet been cleared through the approval process within DPH. The next determined release date was May, during Trauma Awareness Month. Unfortunately, the contest rules and prizes were still not cleared through the DPH Deputy Attorney General’s office, so we decided not to pursue the contest during the 2021/2022 school year. Our intentions are to aggressively get approval of the poster criteria over this summer and release the contest at the beginning of the 2022/2023 school year.
Once the poster project is launched and a winner is selected, we plan to share the winning exhibit, along with all entries, on our DEThrives website. We also have plans to advertise the exhibits on our other social media platforms as well. DPH would also like to pursue working with the winner’s middle school or high school to advertise the poster directly within the school and district wide. We feel this could also reach more adolescents who are struggling with seeking help for emotional or mental health concerns. MCH plans to work with our Adolescent Health Program Manager to expand the poster contest in the future by working with the School Based Health Centers.
Recently, the Delaware Department of Education (DDOE) developed and launched Project THRIVE, which helps children receive trauma-informed support from their schools, communities and caregivers. Project THRIVE provides free mental health services to eligible Delaware students. Services are available to students, grades pre-k through 12th grade, attending Delaware public schools, private schools, parochial schools and homeschools.
Project THRIVE services help students who are struggling with traumatic situations, such as physical or emotional abuse, community violence, racism, bullying, and more. Trauma can harm mental and physical health, and limit school success. Project THRIVE services help students:
- Process and understand traumatic situations
- Attend school regularly
- Better control emotions and behaviors
- Develop coping skills for managing stress at home and school
Children and youth thrive in the presence of thriving caregivers. Project THRIVE is committed to supporting caregiver agency and helping them become good consumers of mental health care on behalf of their children. The mental health provider of choice will be supported in delivering trauma-specific mental health services.
During this past grant cycle, MCH partnered with the Department of Education (DOE) to expand advertisement of Project THRIVE. The need for self-identification of trauma has become a critical component to the success of Project THRIVE. MCH is committed to the success of this program and worked to conduct preliminary research and determined the path forward to deliver targeted advertising to reach youth to increase self-identification and subsequently, utilization of Project THRIVE’s services. The advertisement campaign is focused on building awareness of Project THRIVE to adolescents. The existing video was adjusted to fit each advertisement platform. We selected YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, YouTubeKids, Snapchat and Spotify to advertise with.
The campaign started on July 21st, 2022 and will run for three months. The communications vendor’s plan is “to identify areas of optimization and propose adjustments by platform based on performance and outcomes” within those three months. Meaning, the vendor plans to closely monitor the traffic that is coming from each platform and will adjust the ways the ads are being presented (change the image, change the posting time, etc.) depending on the analytical metrics collected during the campaign. From doing this, DPH in collaboration with the DOE, can receive optimal results with the help of the changing tactics to maximize the reach with the campaign. If paid media is being changed to optimize results during the campaign, then the chances of a user seeing info about this service and ultimately enrolling in this service increases. We will also be provided with a final report containing insights and recommendations for moving forwards with any additional advertising.
Screenshots of videos -
In addition, MCH is also assisting with DOE’s Project THRIVE by generating brand awareness to increase program participation through a paid print materials advertising campaign. These digital advertising messages will reach students and families in their homes or on-the-go over the summer. There is an additional need to promote Project THRIVE in the school environment. The most effective way to reach students and educators is with print materials that can be viewed and distributed in schools. We selected to use Project THRIVE’s existing brand elements and will create a banner for each middle and high school in the state of Delaware, ten posters for each middle and high school within the state as well as 100,000 stickers for each middle schooler, high schooler, and homeschooler within the state. Each banner, poster and sticker will contain a unique QR code, linking back to DOE's page. Each sticker will be handed out in schools throughout Delaware. There are 59 public middle schools and 52 public high schools. Our goal is to have the print materials delivered to each school in time for the beginning of the 2022/2023 school year. Plans of distributing the materials are still in the works. Some ideas include:
- Working with the DOE to post content directly to counselors, nurses, psychologists, deans, superintendent offices, etc.
- Public Information Officers (PIO) and district leaders need to loop the video in the district offices and school offices.
- Putting info in each of the Superintendent and Principal’s weekly/monthly email blasts to families. May do this at an administrative level sometime in September 2022.
- Posting videos or content in other places outside of school locations such as Division of Social Services, Division of Child Support, Division of Motor Vehicle, etc.
- Working with someone from the Delaware State Education Association (DSEA).
Content will also be shared organically (free) with the help of DPH and the DOE. The plan is for DPH to create organic posts and stories tagging the DOE on social media (Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram) so the content can be reshared by the DOE and other partners to help broaden the message. The call to action is to visit the newly created anchor link “de.gov/projectthrive” (brings you to the part of the DOE webpage that is more consumer friendly rather than reading about background info on the services first that may cater more to professionals) to learn more info and to dial 2-1-1, or text your zip code to 898-211 to learn more info or enroll in the services.
Banners –
Posters -
Stickers –
Physical Activity (ages 12-17)
The prevalence of obesity among Delaware adults doubled from 13 percent in 1992 to about 28 percent in 2007. Fortunately, the prevalence has been relatively level since 2007, staying close to 29 percent from 2007 through 2015. To address this major public health challenge, DPH promotes policies and systems changes, and implements programs and strategies in the following areas: Physical Activity, Health Eating and Obesity Prevention.
According to the 2019/2020 National Survey of Children’s Health (NSCH), Delaware is among the lowest of its surrounding states when comparing the percentage of adolescents, ages 12-17, who are physically active at least 60 minutes per day. Additionally, 19.3% of Delaware’s adolescents are physically active zero days per week. Although Delaware is the lowest of its surrounding states when it comes to adolescents being physically active every day, resting at 14.9%, this percentage has trended upwards from 11.6% in the 2017/2018 NSCH and 13.0% from the 2018/2019 results. During our 2020 Needs Assessment, our stakeholders selected increasing physical activity among this population as the number one priority for this population domain and was ranked 5th overall.
The Physical Activity, Nutrition, and Obesity prevention (PANO) program in the Health Promotion Disease Section of the Division of Public Health (DPH) facilitates collaborative work efforts and interventions that address increased physical for Delaware families including children and adolescent. MCH has partnered with the PANO office to increase physical activity for adolescents, ages 12-17. In our Adolescent Health application report, we describe current and future work opportunities to leverage a parentship with PANO to impact the physical activity of our adolescents.
The Physical Activity, Nutrition, and Obesity Prevention (PANO) program’s long-term goal is to reduce the prevalence of adult and childhood obesity and other chronic diseases by promoting healthy lifestyles and improving health outcomes for Delawareans. PANO’s objectives encompass the development and implementation of evidence-based policy, system, and environmental (PSE) strategies that will help Delawareans engage in regular physical activity, better nutrition, and make intentional lifestyle changes, lowering the risk of developing heart disease, cancer, chronic lower respiratory disease, diabetes, and other chronic diseases.
PANO provides support to the Delaware Cancer Consortium, Cancer Risk Reduction Committee, Healthy Lifestyles Subcommittee (HLSC). The HLSC developed health and wellness policy recommendations to the Office of the Governor, many of which impact the health and wellness of adolescents. To help implement some of these policy recommendations, PANO launched the Advancing Healthy Lifestyles: Chronic Disease, Health Equity & COVID-19 (AHL) initiative.
AHL foundational pillars include Coordinated School Health and Wellness, Community Capacity Building, and Workplace and Employee Wellness. Each component provides opportunities to implement evidence-based practices and programs that reach broad populations across the lifespan, with a cross cutting approach that overlaps and interrelates with one another. Each component is designed to engage and support specific objectives of the AHL initiative which will help develop a HLSC Action Plan, while connecting to partners in schools, the community, and the workplace.
Another way MCH has found to provide support to the Physical Activity, Nutrition, & Obesity Prevention, Division of Public Health was through collaborative efforts to inform maternal and child health stakeholders, other community partners and home visitors about the Advanced Healthy Lifestyle Initiative Webinars on Coordinated School Health & Wellness, Community Capacity Building and Workplace/Employee Wellness.
PANO planned to engage Delaware schools through implementing a mini-grant program and supporting school health action teams to implement policy, systems, and environmental (PSE) strategies that promote healthy lifestyles for Delaware youth. However, the impact of COVID-19 presented various challenges. The realities of engaging and securing commitment with schools led to considering other ways to reach and support youth as they transitioned back to school in the fall of 2021. Community based, youth serving organizations (YSO) have a unique role in communities and often have additional flexibility that schools may not. The Boys and Girls Clubs of Delaware (BGC) reaches a large population of youth statewide with their extensive network, variety of programming, and relationship with schools. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention highlighted partnerships between school and community organizations, including providers of out-of-school-time programs such as before-school, after-school, and summer programs, as a strategy to address health and educational inequities that widened during the COVID-19 pandemic. In September 2021, through AHL, PANO partnered with BGC to introduce a new program called Triple Play at 3 locations in Delaware; Milford, Laurel, and Western Sussex. This healthy lifestyle program focuses on the three components of a heathy Self, Mind, Body, and Soul. The goal of the program is to improve knowledge of healthy habits, good nutrition, and physical fitness; increase the numbers of hours per day youth participate in physical activities; and strengthen their ability to interact positively with others and engage in healthy relationships. BGC delivers Triple Play once a week to youth in school-based sites, serving as a bridge between the extensive constellation of programs and resources of the BGC and the schools where youth are enrolled. Triple Play is primarily facilitated by BGC youth mentors (called Wowzers) and college interns, managed by BGC staff. The school-YSO partnership with BGC emphasizes a systems change approach to adapt or replicate a proven health promotion model in multiple environments where youth work and play. From January 2022 to May 2022 almost 150 Delaware youth have participated in the Triple Play program at the 3 school-based locations. Plans are in place for summer programming for June through August 2022, and for continued programming in the 2022-2023 school year.
DPH has facilitated technical assistance (TA) with three community partners on the planning and implementation of their community-based interventions, all of which impact children and families. PANO worked with the American Lung Association (ALA), University of Delaware (UD), and two teams at Delaware State University (DSU) to provide TA on PANO-related interventions which include: an asthma self-management program to be offered to children in schools and/or in youth-serving organizations (YSOs); improving access to healthy, locally produced food in targeted communities; a program for children with disabilities that will teach parents skills to increase the healthfulness of family meals, and increases physical activity for this population; and revitalizing a community space for health education and physical activity for children in an underserved community. Since July 2021, PANO has been working with these community partners to develop project and evaluation plans so that all projects can be implemented in 2022. The community partner evaluation and data collection plans are directly aligned with AHL outcomes, and each directly impact children and adolescent health.
PANO also collaborates with state agencies and community organizations to sustain community capacity building through a recognition and awards program, and a community mini-grant program. These efforts enable community-based organizations to achieve long-term and sustainable outcomes around health and wellness initiatives that support young Delawareans and the communities that care for them.
PANO partners with the Office of the Lt. Governor to facilitate the annual Lt. Governor’s Challenge. The focus of the annual Lt. Governor’s Challenge is on emotional wellbeing; healthy living; chronic disease management and prevention; and mother/child health, within the workplace, school, community/neighborhood, or an individual. There were over 50 nominations received in 2021, with an overwhelming number of them around emotional well-being. Lt. Governor Hall-Long also gave special recognition to nominees who went above and beyond in their responses to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic. The Lt. Governor’s Challenge awards were presented to honorees in October 2021 at a virtual event. Some of the winners that were selected include organizations that specifically impact the health and wellness of children and their families, like Brandywine Counseling and Community Services, Delaware Libraries, Healthy Food For Healthy Kids, the Hispanic American Association of Delaware, Riverside Development Corporation, and Seaford School District Behavioral Health team. An induvial was also recognized for her work hosting health seminars and food drives, distributing school supplies and vaccines by bringing doctors and other experts to vulnerable communities. The 2022 Lt. Governor’s Challenge officially launched in March 2022. Nominations opened April 2022 and closed on May 31, 2021. PANO will meet with the review committee and select awardees in the summer of 2022. Visit www.ltgovernorschallenge.org to learn more about the Lt. Governor’s Challenge.
DPH collaborates with the Tobacco Prevention and Control Program (TPCP) and the American Lung Association to facilitate a community mini-grant program. The community mini-grants award funding to schools, community-based, and youth serving organizations that conduct tobacco prevention programs, physical activity, nutrition promotion and obesity prevention (PANO) programs, or implement PSE changes related to tobacco and PANO. Grants are awarded to schools or organizations that exhibit a strong commitment to tobacco prevention and control programs in Delaware and enhance or expand access to physical activity and healthy eating opportunities for children, families, and communities. Community mini-grant activities were conducted October 2021 to May 2022. Likely due to the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, only one Delaware school applied to participate in this year’s community mini-grants program. However, 29 community mini-grants were awarded, with the majority of the grantees serving youth and families.
DPH collaborates with the Delaware Department of Education (DOE) on coordinated school health and wellness initiatives. To support DOE physical education regulations on annual physical fitness assessment, reporting and compliance standards, PANO supports the utilization and implementation of FitnessGram®, the physical fitness education and assessment tool, developed by the Cooper Institute. PANO collaborates with the Cooper Institute to provide physical education and physical activity resources to Delawareans. PANO provides technical assistance for FitnessGram® implementation, professional development, and training opportunities for Delaware educators, and provides online resources. Although DOE was committed to keeping the physical fitness assessment as a requirement as written in the DOE regulations, during the 2012-2022 school year, some school districts were unable to fully access the FitnessGram® software. Student fitness assessment data was still collected in the end of January 2022 and again in June 2022. PANO will coordinate with DOE on 2021- 2022 school year fitness assessment data analysis in 2022. However, DOE has decided to discontinue use of the FitnessGram® product software for 2022 and has contracted with a different software platform. PANO has amended the current MOU with DOE to include resources for the new product software, starting July 2022.
PANO provides support to the Division of Public Health (DPH) Health Education Administrator who facilitates the various youth surveys statewide, such as the School Health Profile (SHP), the Youth Tobacco Survey (YTS) and the Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS). The 2021 Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) concluded on December 31, 2021. The YRBS is a biennial (odd years) and anonymous student survey for students in grades 6-12 that provide data on student physical, emotional, and psychological health. Its statistics, charts, and other data report not only on student trends in physical activity, but also on texting and driving, drinking, vaping and drug use, bullying, social media use, and other behaviors. The survey is conducted by the University of Delaware Center for Drug and Health Studies and 31 of 36 schools that were randomly selected by the CDC participated, which is about 86%. This means, unlike in 2019, Delaware is expected to have a representative YRBS sample for 2021, which is great news given the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic and how schools were impacted. Motivation to participate in the YRBS process in 2021 was encouraged by a one-time participation incentive. DPH is consistently working to improve response rates from the schools, and efforts to find ways to improve school participation will resume. DPH is having conversations with DOE to possibly consider legislative activities, funding, or both. Administration for the SHP survey began in January 2022. The SHP is a system of CDC surveys assessing school health policies and practices. These surveys are also conducted every other year by education and health agencies among middle and high school principals and educators. The information obtained from the YRBS, and the SHP surveys are used to help develop state programs and initiatives and help to guide prevention efforts, which will improve the health and health outcomes for Delaware communities and youth.
PANO will continue to facilitate collaborative work efforts and interventions across the state that address health and wellness for Delaware families, children, and youth.
To Top
Narrative Search