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Life Skills Approach to Child and Adolescent Healthy Human Development

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Life Skills Approach to Child and Adolescent Healthy Human Development Pan American Health Organization Division of Health Promotion and Protection Family Health and Population Program Adolescent Health Unit Life Skills Approach to Child and Adolescent Healthy Human Development Leena Mangrulkar, Research Associate, HHD/EDC Cheryl Vince Whitman, Director, HHD and Senior Vice President, EDC Marc Posner, Senior Research Associate, HHD/EDC Health and Human Development Programs (HHD), a division of Education Development Center, Inc. (EDC) Funded by: Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) W.K. Kellogg Foundation September 2001 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The authors would like to acknowledge the following individuals for providing valuable interviews about their experience working on life skills programs in Latin America and the Caribbean: Patricia Brandon, Amanda Bravo, Hannia Fallas, Katrin Kasischke, Arthur Richardson, Luz Sayago, Ginet Vargas Obando. The authors would also like to acknowledge the following individuals for reviewing this document and providing valuable comments and guidance: Lucimar Rodrigues, Sergio Meresman, Deborah Haber, Leonardo Mantilla, Christine Blaber, Siobhan Murphy, Michael Rosati, Phyllis Scattergood, Ronald Slaby, Carmen Aldinger, Maria Teresa Cerqueira, Matilde Maddaleno, Luis Codina, Solange Valenzuela, Francisca Infante and Paola Morello. Requests for permission to reproduce this publication, in part or in full, should be addressed to: Adolescent Health and Development Unit, Division of Health Promotion and Protection, Pan American Health Organization, 525 23rd St., N.W., Washington, DC 20037. Life Skills Approach to Child and Adolescent Healthy Human Development Copyright © 2001 Pan American Health Organization Technical Revision: Dr. Matilde Maddaleno, Francisca Infante Editing: María Virginia Pinotti Design: Sylvia Singleton Cover photos: Armando Waak, OPS 2 Why Life Skills?............................................................................................................ 5 Introduction .................................................................................................................. 6 ! Figure 1: What are the Key Life Skills? ..........................................................................................................................................6 Purpose and Audience for this Paper...........................................................................................................7 Chapter I: Adolescents in Latin America and the Caribbean ....................................... 8 Health and Education Sector Reforms in LAC.............................................................................................10 Chapter II: The Theoretical Foundations of the Life Skills Approach............................ 12 Child and Adolescent Development Theory.................................................................................................12 ! Figure 2: Developmental Stages in Childhood and Adolescence .................................................................................................14 Social Learning Theory.................................................................................................................................15 Problem-Behavior Theory ............................................................................................................................16 Social Influence Theory ...............................................................................................................................16 Cognitive Problem Solving ..........................................................................................................................17 Multiple Intelligences: Including Emotional Intelligence .............................................................................17 Resilience and Risk Theory .........................................................................................................................17 ! Figure 3: Risk and Resilience Factors of Child and Adolescent Development ............................................................................18 Constructivist Psychology Theory ...............................................................................................................19 Summary .....................................................................................................................................................20 ! Figure 4: Implications of Theories for Developing Life Skills .........................................................................................................20 Chapter III: The Life Skills Approach: Putting it All Together ....................................... 22 ! Figure 5: Key Elements of Life Skills Programs ............................................................................................................................22 Defining Specific Life Skills...........................................................................................................................23 ! Figure 6: Life Skills ..........................................................................................................................................................................23 Defining Information/Content Areas .............................................................................................................25 ! Figure 7: Information Content to Accompany the Development of Life Skills ..............................................................................26 Defining Effective Teaching Methods...........................................................................................................26 3 ! Figure 8: Cycle of Skills Development ...........................................................................................................................................27 Program Providers and Training ..................................................................................................................28 Program Settings..........................................................................................................................................29 Evaluation of Life Skills Programs................................................................................................................30 Chapter IV: Key Implementation Issues and Challenges............................................. 31 Chapter V: Moving the Agenda into the Future............................................................ 35 Chapter VI: Customizing a Life Skills Conceptual Framework..................................... 36 Chapter VII: Description of Life Skills Initiatives in the Americas ................................. 38 Definitions..................................................................................................................... 42 References.................................................................................................................... 43 Appendix A: Life Skills Programs/Resources.............................................................. 52 Appendix B: Life Skills Advocacy Tools ...................................................................... 54 ! Why Use a Life Skills Approach? ....................................................................................................................................................54 ! What Research Shows ....................................................................................................................................................................55 ! Effective Life Skills Program Providers ...........................................................................................................................................56 ! Cycle of Skills Development ............................................................................................................................................................57 ! Life Skills Programs: Informational Content ...................................................................................................................................58 ! Life Skills Programs: Teaching Methodology ................................................................................................................................59 ! Life Skills Programs: Provider Training ..........................................................................................................................................60 ! Life Skills Sets ..................................................................................................................................................................................61 4 By the year 2010 there will be more adolescents (ages 10-19) alive in the world than ever before, and a significant proportion will live in the Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) Region. This cohort of young people can become either a gift or a burden to their countries depending on the capacity of governments, communities and families to develop the human potential of this generation. This paper describes one best-practice model for effectively contributing to the healthy development of adolescents: life skills programs. Broadly defined, a life skills approach develops skills in adolescents, both to build the needed competencies for human development and to adopt positive behaviors that enable them to deal effectively with the challenges of everyday life. This paper identifies “Life Skills” as: 1) social and interpersonal skills (including communication, refusal skills,
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