Intervention booster: adding a decision-making module to risk reduction and other health care programs for adolescents.

A generic adolescent intervention booster of the decision-making module, "Choices for Tomorrow: Decision Making as a Life Tool," is described for patient education. The intent of the intervention booster is refinement of adolescent decision-making skills by teaching a life tool for making lifestyle decisions (such as smoking and alcohol use) and other health-related decisions. An overview of the module is presented. The module includes a curriculum, a 17-minute life-action videocassette, a participant's workbook, and two instruments to measure outcomes. The theoretical framework is based on the health/choice model, the Janis and Mann conflict model of decision making, and the Piagetian cognitive framework related to adolescent development. The decision-making module can be used alone or as a "booster" to supplement the content of new or existing intervention programs that are aimed at health promotion and maintenance during adolescence. Because the module was originally developed for adolescents who have survived cancer, a population that often experiences cognitive impairment from treatment, it includes cognitive remediation strategies (such as memory aids). The decision-making module can also be used in other learning situations with healthy or chronically ill adolescents and/or their parents.