Film Learning Experience (FLEx) Study
UPDATE AS OF JUNE 26, 2026
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UPDATE AS OF JUNE 26, 2026 ❗️
On June 26, 2026, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Population Affairs abruptly terminated almost all Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program (TPPP) grants that were currently active in the middle of what was meant to be a five-year project period. These cuts impacted organizations across more than two dozen states and eliminated around $67 million in federally funded research and programming, including our FLEx Study, which was solely funded by the TPPP grant program. Since the cuts were "effective immediately," this devastating loss has led to an immediate cessation of all study activities, which has forced us to reduce our staff and no longer be able to provide the program or the incentives that were promised to our youth participants at enrollment. For context, at the time of termination, we had 273 youth enrolled that will no longer be able to receive the information, resources, and incentives that the program was meant to provide.
These cuts, while devastating to IWES, directly harm the youth that our organization is committed to serving, and we are currently exploring other avenues to provide the content featured in FLEx. If you are interested in supporting FLEx, please reach out to our Director of Research & Evaluation, Ayesha Umrigar (aumrigar@iwesnola.org).
To learn more about the TPPP grant termination and the actions that are currently being taken to prevent it, follow this link.
With support from the Office of Population Affairs’ (OPA) Teen Pregnancy Prevention (TPP) program, and in partnership with The Policy & Research Group (PRG), we’ve created the Film Learning Experience (FLEx) study. In an effort to address the disparities we see in unintended teen pregnancy and STIs among adolescents, OPA funds TPP programs with new or improved approaches that are responsive to the needs of youth, their families, and communities. In this regard, the FLEx study aims to evaluate the impact of an adolescent health program IWES recently developed in order to gather evidence to show whether or not it is effective, and to ultimately share our findings. This intervention joins a portfolio of adolescent health programming at IWES that creates safe spaces for youth to learn medically accurate information about their bodies and deepen their understanding of the relationship between their thoughts, feelings, decision-making, and actions.
The Backstory: EE and JJIIN
Entertainment Education (EE), or edutainment, is a method of learning from things we enjoy – more specifically, it’s the placement of educational content into entertainment programs to improve knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors around health or social issues. With support from PRG through their Juvenile Justice Innovation and Impact Network (JJIIN), in 2022-2023 we designed, refined, and piloted a media-based EE pregnancy prevention intervention that features an IWES original film. This intervention was designed specifically for and with youth who are involved (or at risk of involvement) with the juvenile legal and/or child welfare system. The program was reviewed by multiple stakeholders and industry experts, who deemed it to be medically accurate, trauma-informed, and well designed to promote healthy behaviors.
The Present: FLEx
This pilot was so successful that IWES was awarded a five-year grant in continued partnership with PRG to evaluate the effectiveness of our program. After months of research and evaluation design with PRG, we launched the FLEx study, with the goal of enrolling 1,850 youth from September 2024 to January 2027. Throughout the study, youth participate in a series of surveys to gauge their knowledge and experiences around sexual and reproductive health, relationships with peers and trusted adults, social-emotional wellness and overall well being. As a longitudinal study, FLEx participants complete follow-up surveys four months and ten months after enrollment, with special attention given to how young people's experiences may have changed.
As a novel program in this field, FLEx features positive youth development programming that is:
In a single session participants will view short film chapters paired with reflection and activities.
Relatable characters and storylines model healthy (and critique unhealthy) behaviors.
Participants learn to connect characters’ experiences to their own actions.
Program content can be delivered in-person and virtually. In many cases, participants can choose the implementation format that works best for them.
In order to reach our goal of enrolling 1,850 youth by July 2027, we need your help to reach the young people who need and deserve to participate in this unique learning experience.
Please help us spread the word and share this website with young people that may be interested in participating or parents/guardians and adults that work with youth!
