Working with a TPP23 Innovation Hub to Refine a Parent Education Program
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[This was] one of the most important and meaningful workshops I've participated in in my career in public health. We are so excited to work hard on our intervention and make it really mean something for parents, caregivers, and adolescents.Anthony Betori, HFTX Director of Curriculum and Innovation
In 2024, Healthy Futures of Texas (HFTX), a TPP23 Tier 1 grantee, saw great potential in Key Conversations, their early-stage parent/caregiver education program. Key Conversations aims to give parents the skills and confidence to navigate conversations about sex and relationships with their teens.
While parents enjoyed the program, HFTX couldn’t tell if it meaningfully drove behavior change in the teens of parents who had participated. This indicated to HFTX that they had more work to do to align their curriculum with the literature showing that parent education yields positive effects on adolescent health outcomes.
As part of their TPP23 Innovation Hub project, The Policy & Research Group’s Theory and Innovation Support Hub (TISH) accelerator selected HFTX to join their Innovation Development Team—an opportunity to hone Key Conversations alongside innovation experts. Accelerators like TISH take a promising prototype and work with the creator to demonstrate its feasibility, appropriateness, and desirability, rigorously test and refine it, and prepare it for future impact evaluation and dissemination.
TISH led HFTX through the process of breaking down Key Conversations into its tiniest components, checking the extent to which each piece was rooted in facts versus assumptions, and building the entire program back up to be more focused and research-driven.
This process also surfaced many questions, prompting HFTX to conduct new research and use those learnings to refine the curriculum further. Now, the program includes information about the 40 developmental assets, the basics of sex education, and seeking and navigating teen-friendly care. It also uses a more rigorous trauma-informed lens. This spring, HFTX began testing their more evidence-informed program.
Alethia Picciola, Director of the TISH Innovation Hub, says, “Partnering with HFTX has been a rewarding experience from the start. Their commitment to incorporating research and theory into the design of their intervention, while actively engaging parents and youth in the co-design process, has been nothing short of exceptional. They are truly building something special that will empower parents with the knowledge and tools they need to support their adolescent children’s health. It’s an honor to be part of a team that is dedicated to making real, lasting changes in the lives of families.”
Looking to get parents involved in your program? Watch these Ask Me Anything Videos for tips from fellow TPP grantees. You can also learn more about TISH and the other TPP23 Tier 2 Innovation Hub grantees. During National Adolescent Health Month™, learn how you can take action to advance adolescent health and check out these resources from the RHNTC.