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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Joanne Soulouque, MSW, MPH, Charles Deutsch, ScD, and Cynthia Hannon, MSW. Harvard Prevention Research Center, Harvard School of Public Health, 677 Huntington Avenue, 7th Floor, Boston, MA 02115, 617-432-6596, jsoulouq@hsph.harvard.edu

In 2001, the Harvard Prevention Research Center on Nutrition and Physical Activity created a Youth Task Force to provide involvement from youth in addressing the problem of inadequate physical activity and nutritional problems among youth near where they live and at school. The Task Force provides a forum for high school students from Boston neighborhoods to generate research ideas, conduct studies and perform community service to increase physical activity and improve eating patterns among their peers or younger children in Boston. Each year the Task Force (under supervision of Center staff and faculty) selects a topic for research or a community service project, develops a plan, and carries it out. Thus the Task Force members learn about health issues and possible approaches to improving health, while they increase their leadership, communication, and critical thinking skills. The twice per month meetings maintain momentum and allow the teens to share what they are learning and solve problems as they emerge. Recruiting and sustaining the active involvement of a youth task force presents challenges as well as benefits. We will discuss strategies used to engage youth, the logistical issues we faced in creating and sustaining the Task Force, the lessons we have learned, and the successful efforts of the Task Force to date.

Learning Objectives:

• 1. Identify logistical issues and challenges of recruiting and sustaining a youth task force.
• 2. Recognize the resources necessary to support an active youth task force.
• 3. Describe factors that promote student interest in participating in community-based participatory research (CBPR) and sustain their involvement
• 4. Identify benefits of a youth task force.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No