Evaluation of Iowa's Personal Responsibility Education Program (PREP)

As part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (PPACA), Congress approved the Personal Responsibility and Education Program (PREP). The purpose of PREP is to educate adolescents on abstinence and contraception in order to prevent pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections (STI). In addition to these areas, PREP provides information about a variety of topics such as healthy relationships, development, career/educational success, and financial literacy.

In this study, the University of Iowa’s Public Policy Center (PPC) is performing a multi-year evaluation of the PREP program in the state of Iowa. In collaboration with the Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH), the PPC will be assessing changes in adolescents’ communication, knowledge, attitudes, and behavioral intentions.

The PPC is using a mixed methods design to analyze adolescents’ social networks. Enrollees will complete a pre/post test network analysis to gather information about communication partners and topics. Researchers will be looking for changes in the network and changes in communication topics.