National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign
KDHRC is a core contributor to the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign (NYADMC). One of the largest social marketing efforts of its kind, the NYADMC is led by The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy under congressional mandate.This campaign uses mass media and other public communications to reach youth ages nine through 18 with information about drugs of abuse, specifically marijuana.The goal of the campaign is to decrease youth drug use by 25% over the next five years. Major indicators such as the annual Monitoring the Future study suggest that the campaign is on track to achieve its goals.
Under subcontract from DraftFCB, KDHRC provides expertise in behavior change, social marketing and substance abuse prevention for strategic planning of the campaign and development of related social marketing materials. In particular, KDHRC manages and contributes to the Media Campaign Advisory Team, a vast, multidisciplinary group of external experts that reviews advertising concepts, research strategies and instruments, and related reports for scientific soundness, defendability and relevance to the target audience.
Latino Outreach on Autism
Recent national estimates suggest that one in 150 children has autism. Early intervention can maximize outcomes, but on average, children from minority groups are diagnosed 2 to 3 years later than Caucasian children.
To address this disparity, KDHRC worked with the Organization for Autism Research to develop culturally specific communication tools to reach Latino families with information about developmental milestones and the warning signs of autism. We used a promotora model, in which lay health workers were trained to provide information on child development to families with young children during community health outreach programs. More specifically, KDHRC developed a 5-module promotora training program and associated outreach tools, including a bilingual presentation flip-book and parent brochure on a magnet, that provide information on developmental milestones from age zero to five.
The training was implemented with fifteen promotoras, and then evaluated by KDHRC. In the first month of outreach, promotoras reached more than 500 families in Northwest Georgia with information on child development and autism. Future trainings are scheduled for Washington DC and other areas across the country.
Genetics for Kids
Rapid scientific advancements have pushed society to consider the ethical, legal and social implications of genetics and genomic research. Reaching students with engaging information about human genetic principles can help create a new generation with scientific literacy on a topic that may directly influence their personal decisions about health and well-being in the future.
To fill the need for this information, KDHRC is developing the GK curriculum, a standards-based and developmentally appropriate curriculum to improve genetic literacy in middle school students. This curriculum for 7th and 8th grade students features multimedia and print components. The curriculum will provide scientific information on genetic principles and human genetic variation and to discuss the legal, social, and ethical implications of this research while supporting teachers’ instruction on these topics by providing materials that are easy-to-implement and scientifically rigorous.
KDHRC will finalize the print and multimedia components of this curriculum and conduct a controlled study of its effectiveness in classrooms nationwide. Development and evaluation of the GK curriculum is funded by the National Center on Research Resources, part of the National Institutes of Health.
Brain Awareness Week
Who wants to be a NIDA neuroscientist? is a web-based quiz game designed to educate middle school students about the brain, science and how drugs change the brain. This game was developed by KDHRC for the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) as the cornerstone for its Brain Awareness Week outreach.
Brain Awareness Week is an international event organized by the Dana Alliance to increase public awareness of the progress and benefits of neurological research. NIDA is strongly involved in this event and reaches out to students in the Washington. D.C. area with games and activities during this week.
KDHRC developed Who wants to be a NIDA neuroscientist? with extensive input from students in 5th through 8th grades. The game uses the power of interactive Flash technology to engage students in information about the brain and the effect of drugs on the brain. The game is available on the NIDA website, and it will be launched during Brain Awareness Week 2009.
Keys to Brain Power
KDHRC has a subcontract to conduct the evaluation of a National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) funded curriculum product entitled Keys to Brain Power! This CD-ROM-based product features six modules of interactive games on the topic of drugs, how drugs change the brain and body, and how scientists study drugs. The goal of this curriculum is to increase interest in science, further NIDA’s science education goals and provide information upon which students can make healthy, protective decisions about avoiding drug use.The target audience is 6th, 7th and 8th grade students.
Using a mixed-methodological approach, KDHRC developed a comprehensive evaluation protocol that allows standardization of curriculum implementation and data collection. We collected quantitative and qualitative data and analyzed them using bivariate and multivariate statistical techniques.
Results of the evaluation provide support for the effectiveness of this educational product, along with specific suggestions for product improvement. NIDA anticipates distributing up to 30,000 copies of this CD-ROM along with copies of its print curriculum Brain Power! across the United States starting in late 2007.