Pono Choices: A Culturally Responsive Teen Pregnancy and STI Prevention Program
Project Dates: 2010 – 2016
Funded by: Department of Health & Human Services – Office of Adolescent Health
About
Pono Choices is the first teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted infection (STI) prevention curriculum developed exclusively for youth ages 11 to 13 in Hawai‘i. The curriculum is culturally responsive and introduces students to Hawaiian cultural terms, practices, and concepts that stress positive character development, including making “pono” choices. Teen pregnancy and STIs are serious public health issues. Hawai‘i’s STI epidemic is most severe among young people, especially young women. For example, Hawai‘i has the 12th worst chlamydia rate and the 10th highest teen pregnancy rate in the nation, and only 54 percent of Hawai‘i’s high school students reported using condoms during their last sexual intercourse — the lowest percentage of any state in the nation.
Principal Investigator: Kelly Roberts
Contact Person: Tammy Tom
Team: Kelly Roberts; Holly Manaseri; Denise Uehara; Tammy Tom; Mya Evaland; Trip Rems; Brandon Kobashigawa
