Transforming traditional classroom curriculum to an online individualized sexual health education program for rural high school students. Presented by Liz Chen and Vichi Jagannathan at YTH Live 2014 session "Digital Health Tools for Teens."

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School + Internet + Sexual Health Program =
MyHealthEd
Liz Chen
Vichi Jagannathan
Co-Founders of MyHealthEd
April 6-8, 2014
San Francisco, CA
Annual Conference on Youth + Tech + Health

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• Introductions
– How we met (and re-met)
– Current positions
– Career interests
Who are we?

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• Health disparities are inextricably linked with educational
disparities.
• In North Carolina, there are significant disparities
between urban and rural populations for health and
education outcomes.
What’s the problem?

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• MyHealthEd will:
– Individually tailor to students’ initial knowledge, attitudes, and
behaviors
– Aim to change sexual health behaviors in addition to sexual health
knowledge (through health behavior theory)
– Allow sexual health education to be taught through the computer
with/without a trained health educator
Why is our solution unique?

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What do we believe?

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• One year has passed since we started this project and won 1st
place in the IntraHealth SwitchPoint Silo Busters Lightning
Competition sponsored by Pfizer. Since then we have:
– Adapted MyHealthEd’s curriculum from Reducing the Risk
– Crowdfunded $25,000 and received a $50,000 Prize for Innovation Award
from the State Employees Credit Union
– Actively engaged with stakeholders to gather feedback
What is our project timeline?

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• In May and June 2014, the “one size fits all” version of
MyHealthEd will be pilot tested in four rural high schools
in Eastern North Carolina.
– The pilot test will assess feasibility, usability, and basic measures
of effectiveness to guide the development of the individually
tailored version of MyHealthEd for Fall 2014.
Where do we go now?

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• Religiosity (and perceived religiosity)
• Identifying champions with powers
• Time
• Decision to silo or not
• Virtualizing social and interpersonal aspects of health
• School/district funding priorities
What barriers have we encountered?

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• We would love to get your thoughts on the following
questions to better inform the development of our
MyHealthEd intervention:
– What online features must be present?
– Are there any health topics that must be discussed in person?
– In what aspect of health are students least supported?
– What part of your health education has stuck with you and what do
you wish you had learned or talked more about?
How can you get involved?

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Liz: liz@myhealthed.org
Vichi: vichi@myhealthed.org