The News Argus
Nov. 13, 2006
New grant hopes to reduce risky behavior of young African-Americans
COURTESY OF STUDENT HEALTH SERVICES
The Healthy Choices create Empowered
Changes (HCcEC) project, sponsored
through WSSU's Division of Student
Affairs, began earlier this year. Healthy
Choices create Empowered Changes
(HCcEC) provides HIV/AIDS and sub
stance abuse prevention education to female
students at Winston-Salem State University.
"The grant is specifically for women;
however, we hope to impact the choices of
the men through their female partners.
There are a number of organizations and
community agencies working to reduce the
incidence of sexually transmitted diseases
and HIV. A common link to this risk behav
ior is alcohol and substance abuse," said
Natasha Jeffreys, WSSU public health edu
cator and university liaison for the grant.
"As we work to formulate a list of best
practices in these areas, WSSU will
move forward with its education and pre
vention efforts, gaining
insights from those agen- —
cies that have proven suc
cesses in these areas.
According to the Centers
for Disease Control, in the
United States, the
HIV / AIDS epidemic is a
health crisis for African-
Americans. In 2002,
HIV / AIDS was among
the top three causes of
death for African-
American men ages 25—
54, and among the top
four causes of death for
African-American women
ages 25-54. It was the number one cause of
death for African-American women ages
25-34, and research suggests that these
"The grant is specifi
cally for women;
however, we hope to
impact the choices of
the men through their
female partners."
individuals became infected during their
early adolescent years,
which suggest that it is
important to learn and
adopt appropriate health
behaviors in the early
years.
HCcEC "The Formula"
The HCcEC formula is
students educating other
students about Substance
Abuse and HIV / AIDS
Prevention through train
ing, Peer to Peer
Education, and campus
wide information forums.
^ HCcEC health educators
were trained, and their training enabled
them to design an approved curriculum for
their fellow peers.
— Natasha Jeffreys
The "Peer-to-Peer" Education component
brings that "students-helping-students"
approach to campus. Peer Educators meet
in residential halls, the student union, and
within freshman seminar classes to present
the HCcEC curriculum and measure the
effectiveness of the presentations by pre and
post test and through program evaluations
after each session.
"We are currently scheduling educational
sessions for organization and resident's hall.
Please send an email to npoll824@wssu.edu,
and our team will bring the program to
you," say's Nyela Pollard HCcEC peer
health educator. Education is the key, we
must be serious about the issues that are
negatively impacting our community, and
began to make a difference; one person at a
time. For more information about HCcEC,
"the Formula", contact Jeffreys at (336) 750-
2993 or e-mail her at jeffreysnh@wssu.edu.
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