Real Life. Real Talk.®: Creating Engagement in Sexual and Reproductive Health Among Parents, Teens, Families, and Communities

From 2004 to 2008, in four U.S. test markets, Planned Parenthood® Federation of America implemented Real Life. Real Talk.®, an initiative designed to foster open, honest, and balanced communication about sex and health among parents/caregivers, their children, and the general public. Funded by private donors and foundations, including the Ford Foundation, Real Life. Real Talk. combined community organizing and collaboration, education, community events, and promotion in an intervention that addressed the entire marketing mix. Through building local grassroots partnerships and providing a host of coordinated local educational events, including repeated offerings of Sex Ed for Parents™, Real Life. Real Talk. sought to reduce the public's level of shame, intolerance, and avoidance and, subsequently, to increase openness, acceptance, and engagement about issues of sexual health. Parents who participated in Sex Ed for Parents reported that these events were useful, and nearly all participating parents said they would recommend Sex Ed for Parents to a friend. Results from community-wide surveys show modest program awareness and several promising trends that correspond with the goals of the initiative. Real Life. Real Talk. is an example of community-level social marketing that evolved for continual improvement. Real Life. Real Talk. maintained an iterative design and implementation process. It allowed each community to embrace engagement on its own terms, and, as a result, each community contributed unique cultural elements.