Plain Talk Frequently Asked Questions

Below is a list of frequently asked questions and Plain Talk best practices. If there are any remaining questions, please contact P/PV.

• Plain Talk Planning Stages
• Physical Mapping and Community Mapping
• Community Mapping Training and Surveying
• Walkers & Talkers Training
• Home Health Parties
• Plain Talk Budget
• Plain Talking Funding and Sustainability
• Evaluation Questions

Plain Talk Planning Stages

1. How does a site qualify to be a Plain Talk community?

ANSWER: See Site Application on the Home page.

2. How much secured funding is required to begin implementing Plain Talk in a new community?

ANSWER: Average of $110,000 annually over the three year cycle.

3. Who should be involved in the initial Planning Training provided by P/PV?

ANSWER: The Planning Training is a one-day training with three parts. In part one, the implementing agency should invite all community stakeholders such as resident leaders, collaborating organizations, political and governmental leaders, and key community stakeholders. This part of the training consists of a PowerPoint presentation explaining the history, key components, evaluation, and replication supports of Plain Talk. It gives the community leadership a good understanding of what Plain Talk is and is followed by a question and answer period. Part two consists of a windshield survey (drive thru) of the targeted community to give P/PV staff a clear understanding of the geographical area being served by Plain Talk. The third part of the training includes only staff from the implementing agency who will be directly involved in implementing Plain Talk. This is a strategizing session to develop a recruitment plan for the community mapping process.

4. What are the skill requirements and job responsibilities of Plain Talk program site staff?

ANSWER: Refer to the Job Descriptions (also available under Secure Downloads > English Forms) for:
• Community Mapping Volunteers
• Walkers & Talkers
• Plain Talk Program Coordinator
• Plain Talk Program Director

5. Are the volunteers and Walkers & Talkers the same?

ANSWER: No, they are not. Although the Walkers/Talkers and volunteers are all residents of the community, and may have similar duties while implementing certain components of the program they are different. The Walkers & Talkers are paid staff; this is to ensure consistency and accountability to the community for program implementation.

6. Are volunteers paid?

ANSWER: No, volunteers for the Plain Talk Program are not paid. However, there are different levels of volunteerism, so there should be different levels of incentives that are infused in the programs structure to promote community participation and leadership development. Volunteers are a critical aspect of the program's implementation from the beginning, so this is something that should be well thought out and planned during the application process. During Community Mapping, your volunteers' roles will be instrumental as the first messengers of the program. Incentives could include skills development, possibility of future employment, stipends, trinkets, gift certificates and individual’s ability to do their civic duties.

7. Does Plain Talk make recommendations about the gender of the surveyor? Most sites have so few men involved as surveyors.

ANSWER: No, what we do is share best practices around the issues of mapping and getting respondents to complete the surveys. When recruiting Community Mappers, it is important to consider issues like gender and age. This is a peer-to-peer model, and it is important that the Mappers are reflective of the community that they will be surveying. In saying that, we know that sometimes it is hard to recruit males, but having one or two can work if you pair them off with other female Mappers (not together). If the situation arises where the respondents’ level of comfort is uneasy, female Mappers can make them aware that they have the option of having a male conduct the interview.

8. What factors should be looked at when picking a community to implement Plain Talk?

ANSWER: There are multiple factors to look at. First, the community demographics and trends related to teen pregnancy and STDs. Also consider the communities history of addressing or not addressing social problems. This will include the different organizations and agencies, and the ability to garner and maintain resident support and participation in programs. Another factor to look at is the implementation agency including the board and staff structure, whether this is a critical part of the overall mission and vision of the organization, how will this process be supported throughout the programs life cycle, etc. These are a few of the items that will be discussed during planning meetings with potential Plain Talk sites.

9. Can you give me an example of funding TA I can expect to receive?

ANSWER: Each potential site must identify at least 80 percent of the first year’s funding before submitting an application to become a Plain Talk site. P/PV staff is fully committed to providing you with the most current information on funding opportunities at the local, state, and national levels. This information is then shared with sites through monthly Plain Talk funding alerts. In addition, we will assist with reviewing and critiquing grant applications, and writing letters of support. As a critical component of funding TA, it is necessary that you contact our staff prior to submitting proposals to fund any phase of Plain Talk/Hablando Claro, We will help you with customizing program descriptions including relevant language related to the history of Plain Talk, its goals and outcomes.

10. How can the implementing agency enhance their reputation as community-friendly?

ANSWER: This is a long term goal that the organization will have to implement from the Board and Staff level. However, we can recommend that your organization research and administer some sort of cultural competency training for all staff, and recognition of how important it is to have your staff composition reflect, as much as possible the population that it serves. In addition, the organization reputation and integrity within the community is very important, so conducting a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities & Threats) analysis of your organization and programs can give you some insight on improvement areas.

Physical Mapping and Community Mapping

1. What needs to be completed during the Physical Mapping of the Community?

ANSWER: Once the community is defined, the program site needs to construct a map of the housing units, roads, stores and nearby health service sites in the community. The community demographic form also needs to be filled out.

2. What if we cannot get certain statistics for the Community Demographics Form?

ANSWER: Find out as much info as you can pertaining to the question. A Helper's manual that is provided with the form will guide where to find the most recent year the data is available. If the data isn’t available at all for the census tract or community, use data for the county, make a note in the sources/year box and contact Sarabeth Shreffler to inform her of any missing data.

3. Are the data sources that are used for the Community Demographics Form important?

ANSWER: Whatever data sources used in the baseline year, the sites need to be sure that they will be able to access it in three years for evaluation purposes. Example: If a site gets data at the community level from a high school, they should work on some sort of formal agreement to be able access that information three years from now if the contact is no longer there.

4. What is Community Mapping?

ANSWER: Community Mapping is the process by which community volunteers (Mappers) collect critical data about their community’s beliefs, norms and practices related to adolescent reproductive health issues. This process begins with the careful selection and training of volunteers to conduct a door to door mapping and surveying process of different segments of the community. Community Mapping consist of the following parts:
• Physical Mapping
• Adult Surveys
• Adolescent Surveys
• Physician Surveys
• Service Site Survey
• Plain Talk Inventory of Sources for nonprescription contraceptives

Community Mapping Training and Surveying

1. Who is responsible/liable for hiring teen surveyors?

ANSWER: The implementing agency is responsible for hiring all Plain Talk volunteers and staff, thus if teens are hired as Plain Talk community mapping volunteers, the same protocol should be followed at the implementing agency to garner parental permission as well as follow state workforce laws. The national office at Public/Private Ventures offers a general parent/guardian permission form for the implementing agency to use at their discretion.

2. What if people say they will complete the Community Mapping surveys but then refuse to sign the permission forms? Can people take the survey if they are not willing to sign the release

ANSWER: Most people who refuse to sign the permission forms have fear about putting their name down on a piece of paper that might connect them with their survey answers. It is best to train the volunteers in a variety of role-play situations so as they can easily explain to the participant that the survey is CONFIDENTIAL and is separated from the permission forms. The purpose of informed consent is to have the participant voluntarily confirm his or her willingness to participate in the surveying process, after having been informed of all aspects of the adult, adolescent, physician, or service site survey that are relevant to the subject’s decision to participate. Thus, in order to complete the surveys, the individual must sign the release.

3. With incomplete surveys, how do surveyors (or staff) track the respondents without breaching confidentiality?

ANSWER: This is a sensitive matter and sites should take precaution on how they handle this issue. First, it is important that as surveys are completed and submitted that they are reviewed immediately. For the most part, if the supervisor or program coordinator can identify the incomplete surveys immediately, the Mapper will remember the exact respondent based or can narrow down the respondents to two or three based on the demographics and/or answers. You can also attach a half sheet that can be torn off once the survey is complete. This half sheet can contain basic information on it such as address, gender, and age. Again, once the survey is deemed complete it should be detached from the survey. Some organizations require an intake form on every individual that their staff contacts, This information can be gather at the same time, but on a different sheet and also detached once the survey is submitted and deemed complete.

4. Are the Adult surveys only for parents of teens?

ANSWER: No, the purpose of the Adult survey is to better understand the thoughts and opinions of all adults in the community. Since teens are likely to approach other adult relatives or friends for sexual health and relationship advice, all adult opinions are valued equally. Other adults can include teachers, counselors, or any adult the teen may have regular contact with. Refer to the definition of an "Askable Adult" in the Glossary tab for further clarification.

5. Can you survey a family together?

ANSWER: Plain Talk believes in the right for complete confidentiality for this process. Because of the sensitive nature of some of the questions, it is recommended that each individual be interviewed in a separate room from other family members, and in some cases you may have to invite teens to an alternative location for their interview. This should be explained to the adults during the initial visit and signing of consent forms.

6. Can the surveys be conducted in alternative locations?

ANSWER: This is a community process that does require that we go door to door to identify all possible respondents. However, once identified the interviews should be conducted in a private, comfortable, and secure location. The agency may provide the volunteers with an office space or a location in a community center to conduct interviews if the need arises. Working with other community partners to identify space will be helpful.

7. Can the Community Mappers record the survey answers with tape recorders?

ANSWER: No, all the surveys should be conducted in person and all answers should be recorded by hand. This is to ensure strict confidentiality by not having extra copies of the interview.

8. How do you establish credibility to have the physicians and service site providers participate in the surveying process?

ANSWER: There are different ways that you can do the initial approach. You can set-up a formal breakfast or lunch meeting and invite all of the service providers who you believe needs to participate in the survey. Once you have them in the room, introduce Plain Talk, explain why they are needed, give instructions verbally and in writing (see letter template attached), and finally set-up individual follow-up appointments. Understand that everyone will not show, and you will still need to do some individual agency work.
The other option is to go to each individual agency and do the introductions and instructions one on one. Because of the confusion with your site, I believe that this is the better option for you, since an explanation would be warranted by some of the service providers.

9. Who should conduct the Physicians and service site providers' interviews?

ANSWER: Due to new HIPAA guidelines and the increased sensitivity on the part of health care providers in releasing patient information, that Plain Talk provider surveys should be conducted by trained lead agency staff as to maintain credibility among the health care community. This means GCAPP staff, not volunteers or Walkers & Talkers.

10. What is the difference between the Service Site Surveys and the Physician Surveys?

ANSWER: Physician surveys are meant to be conducted with private and/or family practices run by one or a few doctors. These surveys also encompass specialists. Service Site surveys encompass many venues from Hospital ERs to health care clinics and school-based clinics.

11. How many health care service providers and physicians have to be surveyed?

ANSWER: As many service providers are located within or near the community. The purposes of the surveys are to learn about health care services offered to the community as well as gauge the access to contraceptives. Thus, it is imperative to survey as many providers in the area as the site can. Please note that some program sites may have to travel outside the community for these surveys if the site is in a rural area.

12. At what point do you want surveys? A certain number at a time or all at once?

ANSWER: The surveys should be mailed back after they are ALL completed (The Walker & Talker intake forms, the Adult surveys, the Adolescent surveys, the Physician surveys, the Service Site surveys, and Inventory of Sources surveys)

13. How should they be mailed?

ANSWER: They should be send via FedEx to the Attention of:
Sarabeth W. Shreffler, MPH, CHES
Program Officer, Data Collection & Analysis
Public/Private Ventures
2000 Market Street; Suite 600
Philadelphia, PA 19103
sshreffler@ppv.org
215-557-4483
www.ppv.org

14. How will the results of the Community Mapping be distributed?

ANSWER: Approximately 4 weeks after receiving the forms and surveys, results will be presented at the Walkers & Talkers Training. The results will be given in the form of PowerPoint.

15. How will the results be distributed to the Spanish-speaking sites?

ANSWER: All Plain Talk materials are available in the same format in Spanish. In addition all results will be distributed back to the sites in both English and Spanish to use interchangeably depending on the audience.

Walkers & Talkers Training

1. How many Walkers & Talkers should I hire?

ANSWER: The first year budget allows for 2 full-time Walkers & Talkers. However, depending on the site, it could be divided different ways: 4 part-time Walkers & Talkers; or 1 full-time and 2 part-time Walkers & Talkers. This decision is at the sites' discretion. However, remember that these are paid positions and although there is some flexibility in the example provided, notice that the line item amount in the Plain Talk budget remains the same. We do not recommend streamlining this item, the Walkers & Talkers are first line staff and will be vital to the success of the program. As program implementation reaches full scope, you may find it necessary to increase this line item so that you don’t over extend your staff.

2. What does the Walker & Talker Training Consist of? How many days, what materials do we need?

ANSWER: The walkers and talkers training is divided into 6 sections:
a) Plain Talk Orientation
b) Community Mapping Results
c) Values clarification
d) Knowledge (STD’s, Birth Control Methods, Anatomy & Physiology)
e) Home Health Parties
f) Facilitation and Presentation Skills
The complete training is 40 hours with 20 hours being an onsite 2 ½ days of training lead by PP/V staff, and 20 hours of follow-up activities and practice for the walkers/talkers lead and conducted by the program coordinator.
The Walker & Talker training binder is provided by P/PV. At least 2 weeks before the onsite training begins, a list of materials needed for the training is given to the Program Coordinator. The materials consist of an LCD projector, an easel stand and paper, markers, notebooks, pens, post-its, and other HHP materials.

Home Health Parties

1. What is a Home Health Party?

ANSWER: A Home Health Party (HHP) is a peer to peer conversation intended on the accomplishment of 3 goals:
1) Increasing the knowledge of adults in the community about adolescent reproductive health
2) Increasing the quality and quantity of Parent/child communication and
3) Building consensus about the need to protect the adolescents from unintended pregnancies and STDs.
The idea is to conduct the session in an environment that is comfortable and convenient for the residents in the community participate and dialogue about this sensitive topic. The Walkers & Talkers are trained to facilitate these conversations, share factual information, and to solicit information and ideas to help shape the programs messages and build community consensus.

2. How many Home Health Parties should the site be conducting each month?

ANSWER: The Walkers & Talkers will begin conducting HHP’s about four to six weeks after their training. The initial amount of parties will be very small and will gradually increase based on a number of factors; how many Walkers & Talkers and volunteers that the program has, comfort the staff and volunteers has presenting the HHP materials, community awareness of program, door to door outreach capacity, etc. During the Walkers & Talkers training, a preliminary outline will be developed with more specific numbers on how many parties the site will be conducting each month.

3. How many people do we want at each Home Health Party?

ANSWER: Remember these are small group conversations, held in the residents’ home. Each home is different and the amount of individuals who can comfortable sit and move around (for activities) will vary. However, it is recommended that you keep a range of 5 to 10 individuals per party.

4. What are the best practices for administering the pre/post test to participants with limited or no reading and writing skills?

ANSWER: For the pre/post tests, the Walkers & Talkers are trained to read all directions, all True and False Questions and possible answers, one by one to the entire group of participants so everyone can complete the tests correctly and in a timely manner. Similarly, when presenting Home Health Party topics, the Walkers & Talkers are trained to read aloud and explain all written material that may be passed out to participants. This ensures everyone will interpret the information correctly and unanimously.

Plain Talk Budget

1. How should we set up the Plain Talk budget for the 3 year cycle?

ANSWER: Refer to the Grant Proposal template available under the 'Secure Downloads' tab/Funding tab.

Plain Talking Funding and Sustainability

1. What assistance does P/PV provide for fundraising?

ANSWER: The overall financial goal is to have Plain Talk supported with public funds, such as Title V MCHB, Title X Family Planning and Medicaid. P/PV is conducting policy research to identify the most reliable and effective mechanisms for tapping into these funds. P/PV also is documenting lessons learned from several funding prototypes, such as Medicaid leverage and will post lessons on this website. Currently, most replication sites are funded by a combination of public and private resources. For sites that are approaching private funders, P/PV staff will assist with proposal development to ensure that the Plain Talk model and evaluation results integrate the most current data. We encourage sites to submit their proposal to P/PV staff for review prior to submitting it to private funders so that we can add relevant information, such as the level of technical assistance and training available to ensure quality results and Casey’s level of investment. As appropriate, P/PV staff is available to meet with private funders to provide an overview of the national Plain Talk replication strategy and highlight your site’s contributions to the strategy.
Lastly, refer to the 'Funding Guide' tab on the website for possible public and private funding resources, listed by state.

2. How do we make the case for sustainability?

ANSWER: The Plain Talk model is a 3-year initiative. Evaluation is built into the model and includes multiple factors, such as baseline data and mechanisms for measuring short and long-term outcomes. All funding requests should describe the 3-year developmental trajectory and emphasize the proven theory of change as well as the strength and quality of the national peer network and technical assistance providers. This combination of strong theory and proven practice is unique within the field of adolescent reproductive health.
In terms of sustainability beyond three years, the strategy will be determined on a site-by-site basis. In some cases, Plain Talk will be sustained by expanding to include new neighborhoods. In other cases, the Initiative will be modified to address a different population. For example, while the first three years might have focused exclusively on the Latino population, the second cycle might expand to include African Americans.

Evaluation Questions

1. Do we evaluate the difference in STDs and teen pregnancy and if so how?

ANSWER: Currently, every Plain Talk site reports the most recent incidence numbers of STD and birth rates from their county/zip code level, which is categorized by race and gender on their site application. However, this baseline data at the county and zip code level may still be too broad to accurately depict the numbers at the smaller neighborhood level. Thus, at the three year benchmark of the program cycle, many more indicators can be examined to determine any differences in the teen pregnancy and STD incidence rates in the Plain Talk community. Beyond secondary county data that can be gathered from the local health departments and census, supplementary questions from the community mapping surveys can add to the picture such as:
1) "Have you ever been or caused a pregnancy before age 20?" on the adult survey
2) "Have you ever had sex?" on the teen survey
3) "Have you ever used protection or birth control?" on the teen survey
4) "Have you ever been pregnant or caused a pregnancy?" on the teen survey
5) "Have you ever had a live birth?" on the teen survey

Finally, qualitative data gathered from focus groups, interviews, ethnography and staff observational journals help further explain the quantitative results.

As any behavioral change, three years is a short amount of time to measure community-wide differences in STD and pregnancy rates. However, with future evaluations of the Plain Talk program, it is foreseeable that more stringent indicators may be added to provide the most accurate numbers.