Full Disclosure: Communicating What Works and What Doesn't in Teen Pregnancy Prevention to Advance the Field

Background: Although there is movement towards more evidence-based policymaking, there is often a dearth of comprehensive public health program evaluations in the literature, with a bias towards reporting the most positive outcomes. To meet goals of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to advance scientific knowledge and innovation and to increase understanding of what works in public health practice, knowledge gained in programs should be communicated.

Program background: The HHS Office of Adolescent Health (OAH)’s Teen Pregnancy Prevention (TPP) Program was initiated in 2010 as one of six major evidence-based policy initiatives across the Federal government. Concluding its first five-year cohort of grants, the OAH TPP Program conducted 41 rigorous program evaluations of both evidence-based and innovative TPP programs. With a commitment to informing the field and engaging in transparency, OAH released all the results, not just the most positive outcomes of its evaluations. The release involved a number of approaches, including: publishing individual evaluation reports; developing factsheets, infographics, social media posts and briefings to inform key target audiences; and training grantees on strategies for disseminating their results.

Evaluation Methods and Results: Promoting the TPP Program evaluation was intended to strengthen the science base, and given the potential controversy around adolescent sexual health, needed to be communicated in a way that increased support, not divestment, of these programs. All of the results and accompanying informative materials were published on a dedicated webpage and disseminated through new and established key partners. Materials were tailored to audiences such as community organizations, researchers, and decision-makers. The efficacy of the dissemination was determined by the engagement of partners and the reach of the materials through social and traditional media.

Conclusions: Advancing evidence-based practice in the field of adolescent sexual health can be difficult without effective communication. However, careful messaging, partnership-building and the provision of materials allowed OAH grantees and partners to share the results of the OAH TPP Program with a greater audience than before. 

Implications for research and/or practice: Public health program evaluations may be conducted, but the information is often slow to reach the field, if at all. To ensure transparency and sustain a culture of learning for the field, even when the topics can be considered controversial, government agencies should consider better supporting grantees and partners in sharing results by conducting trainings, fostering relationships, and developing aid materials.