Ensuring our public health future: Youth engagement in pipeline programs

The inaugural Youth Advisory Board (YAB)/Project ASK was initiated by executive order of the Director of Health in March 1998 at the Nashville/Davidson County Metro Public Health Department to serve as the following: An opportunity to empower young public health advocates to develop local and state adolescent health and community research projects and policies that promote sustained health outcomes. To further impact local health disparities and create a culture of public health among future health practitioners, Project ASK expanded its scope to create the Summer Institute (SI) in 2006.

Based on the vertical transmission model, the Summer Institute engages high school juniors living in disparate East and North Nashville communities around the principles of public health practice. The aforementioned communities concurrently experience the lowest state standardized academic test scores, particularly in math and science and experience the county's highest levels of reproductive and mental health disparities. Engaging youth in a service-learning capacity within public health not only increases their knowledge and awareness of public health practice, research, leading health issues and health promotion, but also provides an opportunity to engage in intervention activities as well. To date, 100% of SI attendees report having an increase in knowledge of public health and subsequently will be followed longitudinally to determine college entrance and major selection. While the author recognizes that substantial literature already exits on similar programs, SI is unique because it is the first program its kind lead by a local health department, focusing on disparate young adult populations.