ETR's Program Services Division seeks to enhance public health, education, community service, and child development strategies. Our six program areas provide a framework through which our multidisciplinary staff look at individual, community and systemic needs from a variety of vantages points.
ETR is particularly dedicated to creating and evaluating programs that demonstrate a positive impact on health-related attitudes and behaviors, and to building the capacity of organizations to implement effective programs. These projects also address an array of local, state and national health and community development needs, with important implications to enhance public policy at all levels of government.
We make our findings accessible to a range of audiences by publishing in peer-reviewed journals, providing trainings and capacity-building assistance, presenting at both practitioner and researcher-focused conferences, posting program guides and trainings online, and developing online knowledge management resource centers.
Learn about our focus within each program area and view current and selected past projects by clicking on the links below.
Civic Engagement
ETR’s work in the area of civic engagement/community service is key in positively impacting individuals, families, and communities by addressing central social determinants of health and wellness, such as the social and physical environments we live and interact in. We work to build the capacity of thousands organizations and educational settings who engage over 5 million volunteers nationwide to direct services at the local and community levels, in school settings, or as a participant in a national service program.
>> View Civic Engagement Projects
Teen Pregnancy
ETR was founded with a mission to effectively prevent high-risk sexual behaviors and their associated unwanted outcomes – teen pregnancy. Work in this area is driven by developing evidence based interventions, translating research to practice including adaptations to better serve the most affected groups, providing state of the art effective capacity building, training and TA, and professional development, and working on prevention policies in schools and alternative settings with a focus with underserved and minority populations. Our strategy to ensure that teens and young adults have access to the highest quality pregnancy prevention information and programs remains simple and reasoned: promote what works, what is culturally appropriate, and what is informed by scientific theories of behavior change.
>> View Teen Pregnancy Projects
HIV/AIDS & STI
ETR was founded with a mission to effectively prevent high-risk sexual behaviors and their associated unwanted outcomes - sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and HIV/AIDS - among youth and young adults. Work in this area is driven by developing evidence based interventions, translating research to practice including adaptations to better serve the most affected groups, providing state of the art effective capacity building, training and TA, and professional development, and working on prevention policies in schools and alternative settings with a focus with underserved and minority populations. Our strategy to ensure that teens and young adults have access to the highest quality prevention information and programs remains simple and reasoned: promote what works, what is culturally appropriate, and what is informed by scientific theories of behavior change.
>> View HIV/AIDS & STI Projects
School Health/Behavioral Health
ETR’s work in K-12 educational institution (individual schools, local school district and state department of education levels), youth and family serving CBOs, and colleges/universities, contributes towards developing health and wellness at the local, state, and national levels through rigorous research and evaluations. The scope of work ranges from research looking at personal, familial and/or systemic factors impacting physical and mental health to customized evaluations looking at individual risk factors and the impact of programs/policies on the health of students, schools, and communities.
>> View School Health/Behavioral Health Projects
Tobacco
Tobacco use is still the single leading number one cause of preventable death in the United States. If left unchecked, tobacco-related deaths are projected to be more than 8 million a year worldwide by 2030. ETR’s approach to work in the area of tobacco-use and cessation include capacity building resource center and fulfillment activities, innovative tobacco control policy projects and research with underserved populations, especially tobacco-related disparities.
>> View Tobacco Projects
Youth and IT
Information Technology increasingly plays a key role in the development and education of youth. ETR’s focuses on conducting applied research looking at computational thinking and learning in middle and high school youth with a focus on increasing the number of women and underrepresented minorities in IT careers. Research in this area has led to the formation and sustainability of innovative afterschool programs and greater understanding of key factors to engage youth in technology career paths.
>> View Youth and IT Projects