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Introduction
Health promotion involves delivering activities that aim at enhancing people's health
and well-being. Such activities help people to improve or maintain their current state of
health. Therefore, health promotion programs motivate individuals and communities to act
appropriately and positively to attain a stable state of health. Moreover, health promotion is
crucial in solving issues within the healthcare setting. Health promotion activities are
significant in public health since they help people, organizations, and communities to face
and formulate strategies to overcome health problems in society. Thus, health promotion
refers to the process of helping individuals gain control over their well-being and health to
live a healthy and happy life. Therefore, the paper will develop a health promotion plan to
help African American teenage girls to avoid early teen pregnancy. Teen pregnancy is linked
to urinary tract infections, preterm labor, preterm birth, increased cesarean operations rates,
low birth weight among infants, and anemia. The paper will discuss several aspects regarding
teen pregnancy among African American teens to enhance health promotion plan
development.
Teen Pregnancy
Teen pregnancy cases are among the major health issue across the world. Global
health institutions reported more than 16 million teens between 15 and 19 years and also
approximately one million teens below 15 years give birth every year (Huang et al., 2019).
Presently, the vast cases of teen pregnancies are recorded within the low and middle-income
nations, states, ethnic groups and communities. Cases of inaccessible, ineffective, and poor
quality characterize such areas and populations. Thus, there are higher chances of teens
getting pregnant and facing complications during birth and pregnancy. Moreover, more than
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three million teens constantly face risky abortions that often lead to subsequent reproductive
problems or even death. As stated, teen pregnancy is linked to urinary tract infections,
preterm labor, preterm birth, increased cesarean operations rates, low birth weight among
infants, and anemia (Cox et al., 2021). Therefore, teen pregnancies are a serious health issue
Selected Population, Characteristics, and Reasons they are Predisposed to Tobacco Use
Teen pregnancies in US has been declining for the past two decades. For example, the
rates of teen births between 2018 and 2019 reduced from 17.6 per 1000 girls to 16.7 per 1000
girls (CDC, 2021). The decline is because of abstinence and use of contraceptive in many
regions within the country. However, even though there is a notable decrease in teen
pregnancy rates in US, the country still has many cases when compared to other developed
countries. The teen pregnancy cases still prevail among the ethnic minority populations,
particularly the African Americans. Therefore, the selected population are teen girls from
African American group from Texas, United States. The teen girls are still in school and
The birth rates among the African American teens in 2013 was approximately 35
births for every 1000. Moreover, about 45 percent of females within the African American
group get pregnant before the age of 20, which leads to dropping out of school (Cox et al.,
2021). Additionally, 38 percent of the 45 percent will drop out of schools. Consequently,
children from such mothers are likely to experience health challenges, unemployment, poor
educational results, become young mothers, drop out of school, face jail terms due to illegal
activities, and abuse drugs (Cox et al., 2021). The public health agencies, the government and
other essential stakeholders are aiming to prevent such issues by eliminating and reducing
Several factors lead to teen pregnancies among the selected population, teens from the
marginalized areas. Such factors include lack of knowledge and adequate information about
contraceptives and sex, substance use, parental involvement, and peer pressure (Huang et al.,
2019). For example, peer pressure compels many teens from the African American group to
indulge in dangerous sexual behaviors. Intensified sexual violence, inadequate sexual and
reproductive health information, and limited access to contraceptives also leads to teen
pregnancy within the population. Therefore, health promotion education plan will play a key
role in reducing teen pregnancy rates. The health promotion plan will help in reducing sex
frequency, improve contraceptive access, and delay introduction to sexual behaviors among
teens. This is because teens will have adequate information regarding sexual behaviors, and
the associated impacts to their health and community in general. Therefore, many teens in the
African American will be able to make sound and informed decisions regarding their sexual
behaviors. The health promotion plan will help to improve life quality and standards of every
Development of Sociogram
elements lead to teen pregnancy, specifically in the chosen population. Teens from the
African American group various challenges such as poverty, education inequality, limited
access to healthcare, and discrimination. Even though African American holds 35 percent of
the entire population, they contribute to 57 percent of teen birth in the US (Huang et al.,
2019). Thus, it is important to include such factors to comprehend the reasons for the
prevailing teen pregnancies compared to other ethnic groups. Moreover, teen girls from poor
families are likely to face illiteracy, gang involvement, substance abuse, and teen pregnancy.
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Such a cycle may continue within the group. Thus, the health promotion education plan will
help breaking the cycle and teen girls can avoid early pregnancies, and have equal access to
Several risk elements lead to early pregnancy among the African American teen girls.
They entail individual risk elements such as inadequate information regarding sex and
contraception, substance abuse, and indulging in sexual intercourse early. Social factors
include dating while young and peer pressure from the peers. Besides, family risk factors
include teen pregnancy history in the family, inadequate communication and interaction
between parents and teens, single-parenting, poor supervision from parents, and poor family
relationships. Thus, the potential learning needs for the selected population are social, family,
and individual risk elements of teen pregnancy, ways to prevent teen pregnancy, and
The educational sessions or programs have several expectations. First, the selected
population should outline the social, family, and individual risk elements for early pregnancy
after the session. Besides, the population should be able to identify such factors or elements
in their lives, and ways to address them. They are expected to identify where and how they
can get contraceptives as well as determine the impacts of early pregnancies. However, the
educational sessions will be customized to address individual learning needs. Several learning
approaches will be utilized to attain every health promotional objectives. For example,
In this context, there are two main goals essential for the health promotion plan. First,
one goal is to help the chosen population to know and understand the social, family, and
individual risk elements for early pregnancies. The second health promotion goal is to raise
awareness on where and how to access contraceptives. The final goal is to reduce early
pregnancies among African American teen girls. These are SMART since they are specific,
References
https://www.cdc.gov/teenpregnancy/about/index.htm
Cox, S. M., Lashley, C. O., Henson, L. G., Medina, N. Y., & Hans, S. L. (2021). Making
meaning of motherhood: Self and life transitions among African American adolescent
experience and future directions for research. Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment &
Huang, C. Y., Roberts, Y. H., Costeines, J., & Kaufman, J. S. (2019). Longitudinal