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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Recorded presentation

Maureen Sedonaen, Margaret Libby, MSW, and Jennifer Juras, PhD. Youth Leadership Institute, 246 First St, Suite 400, San Francisco, CA 94105, 415-836-9160, msedonaen@yli.org

The Youth Leadership Institute (YLI) builds communities where young people and their adult allies come together to create positive social change. The proposed presentation will focus on YLI's partnerships with young people on environmental prevention initiatives to control alcohol availability and reduce underage drinking in their communities. YLI's innovative approach to environmental prevention includes the use of youth-adult partnerships as a framework to guide application of evidence-based environmental prevention and youth development strategies, including youth leadership and skill development; youth-driven action research; media advocacy; and policy advocacy.

Two examples of this approach include successful policy advocacy efforts that utilized youth-adult partnership models: 1. adoption of a Deemed Approved Ordinance in San Francisco, which mandates local control over alcohol enforcement; and 2. adoption of a county policy, one of the first of its kind in the country, to prohibit alcohol sponsorship of the Marin County Fair. Both of these successful policy advocacy efforts utilized Prevention Youth Councils to mobilize community policymakers and leaders, as well as youth-driven action research and media advocacy.

The challenges and strengths of using youth-adult partnerships to achieve positive community change related to underage drinking will be highlighted. This presentation will also address the unique aspects of carrying out such efforts in urban and rural areas. Also presented will be lessons learned and recommendations for other communities that want to utilize youth-adult partnerships for environmental prevention initiatives to reduce alcohol availability and underage drinking.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of this session, participants will be able to

• Develop a plan for engaging young people in environmental prevention to reduce underage drinking in their communities.
• Recognize the benefits and challenges of using a youth-adult partnership model for environmental prevention strategies, such as policy advocacy.
• List strategies to apply when utilizing youth-adult partnership approaches to environmental prevention in both urban and rural settings.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No

Recorded presentation