Teen Outreach Program (TOP) in 2012
2012 Accomplishments: TOP of Craven County, NC
CHPIR continues to partner with the Craven County Health Department (CCHD) in New Bern, NC to offer the Teen Outreach Project (TOP). In 2012, Genevieve Ankeny Hunter (GV), a CHPIR project coordinator, brought on board Tova Hairston, a native of Craven County, as they successfully led a program that reached over one hundred youth, ages 11-17, in Craven County. The TOP curriculum not only provided these youth with an essential education on teen pregnancy and HIV/STD transmission, it also promoted essential abilities to reduce future risk behavior by focusing on three important tenants in youth development: a sense of purpose, life skills and healthy behaviors.
In order to develop their capacity to effectively educate the youth in Craven County as well as to promote their work in New Bern, NC, GV and Tova attended the NC Annual Teen Pregnancy Prevention Conference. Tova also participated in the National Teen Pregnancy Prevention Conference in Washington, D.C., while they both continued training in the TOP curricula. What’s more, GV and CHPIR faculty member, Rae Jean Proeschold-Bell, worked with other scholars to write the journal article, “The increasing impact of HIV infections, sexually transmitted diseases and viral hepatitis in Durham County, North Carolina: A call for coordinated and integrated services,” which was published in the North Carolina Medical Journal.”
Publications
- Kolman, M., DeCoster, M., Proeschold-Bell, R.J., Ankeny, G., Bartlett, J., & Seña, A.C. (2012). The increasing impact of HIV infections, sexually transmitted diseases and viral hepatitis in Durham County, North Carolina: A call for coordinated and integrated services. North Carolina Medical Journal, 72(6), 439-446.
Conclusions: Durham County has experienced an increase in the number of HIV-infected persons in the county, and coinfections with STDs and hepatitis B or C are common. Multiple barriers to testing/treatment exist in the community. Coordinated care models are needed to improve access to HIV care and to reduce testing and treatment barriers.