Application: Applying Disability-Related Considerations to Program Planning

Now that you have explored disability considerations that may intersect with health behavior, you focus on designing a health behavior program for a specific population and need. Review the scenario below and begin to conceptualize how you might design a program for the need presented. As you do this, keep in mind any programmatic considerations related to the hearing impairment and how you might address or incorporate these considerations.

In your community, there are 50 deaf or hearing-impaired adolescents between the ages of 13 and 18. These individuals attend special classes together at school. Teachers and school administrators have become aware of a large number of unplanned pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases/infections (STDs/STIs) in this hearing-impaired adolescent group. You have been asked to help design a safe sex program to address this issue.

The assignment: (5–7 pages)

Describe your proposed safe sex program for hearing-impairing adolescents in your community, including goals and format of the program, and resources you would need to implement the program (e.g., staff requirements, space, and equipment).
Describe challenges you might face particular to this population and explain how you might address these challenges.

Support your Application Assignment with specific references to all resources used in its preparation. You are to provide a reference list for all resources, including those in the Learning Resources for this course.

Solution Preview

Every individual regardless of their physical or mental situations have sexual desires that might have either positive or negative impacts on the parties involved. The society has a way of viewing sexuality that makes it a big deal for different people. Adolescents are at a greater risk from unsafe sexual activities due to their careless interactions (Mintz, 2012). Those with disabilities face even greater challenges as they are discriminated against in almost all social issues. Young people with hearing impairments do not receive as much support from sex programs as other people due to lack of facilities and professionals in the field. As a result, they end up being victims of sexually transmitted diseases and early pregnancies as compared to their peers (Barnett et al., 2011). A proper sex program is therefore necessary in this case to ensure that these youths are not left out in education on matters affecting their lives.

(1,781 words)