Adolescence: Time of Choices

At the core of this programme is the use of a school-based sex education curriculum that included information about abstinence and contraception in an effort to present young participants with a choice and to motivate them to choose healthful directions and practices. The curriculum for students consisted of 18 sessions, including topics central to adolescent development, short- and long-term decision-making, and reproductive and sexual health. In addition, a curriculum was developed for parents that consisted of 5 sessions focusing on understanding adolescence and on improving parent-child communication.

Interpersonal communication - in the form of face-to-face training - and printed manuals were tools used to help prepare teachers to present students with information and to hear and respond to their questions and concerns. Specifically, CEMERA offered 4.5-day training sessions for teachers, as 2 manuals (one for teachers working with students and one for those working with parents). Teachers were invited to repeat sessions they found important, but were asked to cover all the material. CEMERA also convened regular meetings to build teachers' capacity on sex education and the curriculum as well as to obtain feedback on the programme from teachers and students. As part of the programme, school counselors were available to assist students with questions and/or to refer students to youth-friendly reproductive and sexual health services.

In addition to parent, teacher, and counselor involvement, physicians participated in developing the curriculum, orchestrating educational sessions, and evaluating the programme. Namely, CEMERA health care professionals led presentations in the schools and encouraged students to contact them, via email or telephone, to ask questions or discuss medical concerns. CEMERA also provided on-site staff within the schools to serve as a resource for students, teachers, and parents.

Youth, Reproductive Health, Family Planning, HIV/AIDS.

In November 1981, an academic team - CEMERA - was created within the department of Obstetrics and Gynecology in the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Chile. This department focused its efforts on pregnant teenagers, considered at the time to be the highest risk group in obstetrics and perinatal care. CEMERA works to:

• disseminate current knowledge in adolescent reproductive health (ARH) within Chile and throughout Latin America
• improve on existing techniques and develop new techniques in the area of ARH through multidisciplinary research and the application of alternative models to offer these services
• train medical personnel and other health professionals to provide better ARH services
• introduce in the current training of medicine and other health professions the topic of ARH
• enrich the field by offering postgraduate training in ARH
• assess state organisations responsible for providing health care and education in the area of ARH
• help other nations develop specific ARH programmes, train personnel, or develop human resources in the field
• coordinate with other national and foreign institutions in the development of specific research projects, programmes, teaching facilities and the dissemination of ARH ideas and practices.

An evaluation report from 2004, quoted by Advocates for Youth in 2005, found that this programme resulted in reduced incidence of pregnancy, reduced incidence of imposed abortions (abortions insisted upon by parents or partners), delayed initiation of sexual intercourse, and increased use of contraception on the part of young women.