Volume 24, Issue 5: October, 1997

Abstract

DEVELOPING A MEDIA AND SCHOOL-BASED PROGRAM FOR SUBSTANCE ABUSE PREVENTION AMONG HISPANIC YOUTH: A CASE STUDY OF MIRAME!/LOOK AT ME!

Amelie G. Ramirez, DrPH
Kipling J. Gallion, MA
Renato Espinoza, PhD
Alfred McAlister, PhD
Patricia Chalela, MPH

Address reprint requests to Amelie G. Ramirez, DrPH, Baylor College of Medicine, Center for Cancer Control Research, 1 Baylor Plaza, Suite 924, Houston, TX 77030; phone: (713) 798-4614; fax: (713) 798-3990; e-mail: aramirez@bcm.tmc.edu.

Mirame!/Look at Me! is a substance abuse prevention program for low-income Mexican American youth 9 to 13 years of age. The theory-driven curriculum, developed for mass distribution via a satellite television network, features social models who demonstrate cognitive-behavioral skills and display conservative norms regarding substance abuse. An 18-session curriculum contains 5-minute videos that are assigned to be followed by discussion and social reinforcement from a teacher or volunteer. This case study reports the program development process and experiences in the initial dissemination of the program through national networks for schools and cable television subscribers.