“Implementation strategy for the school-based sex education program Long Live Love: A Dynamic Process”

Keywords: implementation, education programme, sex education

This dissertation aims to answer the following question: how can you make sure that your programme is well-known and effective, and reaches young people at school? In order to improve sexual health among Dutch youngsters, a national implementation strategy has been developed and evaluated in collaboration with teachers and public health professionals. This strategy focuses on the education programme Long Live Love, which is proven to be effective. The programme is intended for the junior stages of secondary education and covers the themes relationships and sexuality. This dissertation focuses on the most innovative part of the implementation strategy, namely a coaching website (www.longlivelove.nl) aimed at supporting teachers in giving the best possible sex and relationship education. The implementation process is dynamic. It is based on not only the development of a high-quality education programme, but also the continuous collaboration with the target group and intermediaries, anticipation of and intervention in the implementation process and the promotion of expertise among teachers.