Friday, October 4, 2024
10/4/2024
Background: Well-Ahead Louisiana (WAL) is the chronic disease prevention and healthcare access arm of the Louisiana Department of Health (LDH), Office of Public Health (OPH). WAL’s prevention programs seek to address chronic diseases associated with tobacco, heart disease, obesity, and oral health. A priority initiative of WAL is improving the health and wellbeing of Louisiana youth. Through the School Health Program (WAL-SHP), Tobacco Control Program (WAL-TCP), and Oral Health Promotion Program (WAL-OHP), WAL provides professional development and technical assistance to help schools implement evidence-based policies, practices, and programs that promote positive health behaviors in students. Objective: WAL’s project proposal addresses the need for quantifiable data to identify and target the needs of vulnerable populations. WAL will conduct the YRBS in Louisiana in years 2025, 2027, and 2029 by leveraging existing collaborations and resources to implement Component 3: School-based Surveillance of the Improving Adolescent Health and Well-Being Through School-Based Surveillance and the What Works in Schools Program cooperative agreement. Purpose: WAL will monitor trends in the health-related behaviors and experiences that can lead to death, disability, and social problems among Louisiana youth. The data derived from this project will help WAL and other state and local agencies target and improve interventions, evaluate programs, establish funding priorities, and support the development of evidence-based policies and practices that reduce health risk behaviors among Louisiana’s youth. Outcome: By the end of the 5-year project period, WAL anticipates an increased understanding of short-term trends in risk behaviors and experiences of Louisiana’s youth. Results from the YRBS will be disseminated to internal and external stakeholders such as state and local health departments, healthcare professionals, parents and guardians, education professionals, and the public. Evaluation: WAL-SHP and WAL-Evaluator will oversee the evaluation activities for the YRBS. Annual process and outcome evaluation of the activities associated with survey administration will be conducted. Process evaluation will provide valuable insight into the overall implementation and quality of the data obtained to aid WAL in addressing the effectiveness of surveillance activities and identify areas for improvement. Outcome evaluation will be used to understand the extent to which the program activities contributed to an increase in the awareness and understanding of short-term youth risk behaviors and experiences. Key Personnel: Key personnel involved in this project include WAL staff: School Health Manager, Evaluator, and Epidemiologist. Funding: WAL is requesting $100,000 in funding to implement the YRBS and an additional $12,500 to include sixteen new questions related to Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) and Positive Childhood Experiences (PCE) for a total of $112,500.
HHS’ Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System (TAGGS) website provides access to detailed descriptions of grants, loans, aggregated direct payments and other types of financial assistance awarded by the HHS Operating Divisions (OPDIVs) and the Office of the Secretary Staff Divisions (STAFFDIVs).
