203693 Giving a Voice to Teens and Their Parents: Prioritizing Health Topics

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Kristi McClamroch, PhD , Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University at Albany, School of Public Health, Rensselaer, NY
Dwight Williams, MSW , School of Public Health, University at Albany, Rennselaer, NY
Rachel Hart, MPH , Division of HIV Health Care, New York State Department of Health AIDS Instititue, Albany, NY
F. Bruce Coles, DO , Bureau of STD control, New York State Department of Health, Albany, NY
Inner-city youth are at risk for a number of negative health outcomes. Therefore, it is essential to tailor health education and health promotion intervention programs for youth to the specific needs of communities. As part of the Albany Youth Health Survey (AYHS), individual interviews were conducted among male and female teens aged 13 to 18 years old who worked in the City of Albany, New York Summer Youth Employment Program. Additionally, individual interviews were conducted with their parents for the Albany Parents Health Survey (APHS). Over 1,000 teens enroll in the Summer Youth Employment Program each year. A total of 432 teens and their parents participated in individual interviews. Teens and parents were asked to identify health topics that were perceived as important for themselves, as well as for their families and communities. Teen participants were also asked about various health behaviors, including sexual activities that contribute to pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases, drug and alcohol abuse, gang-related and other community violence, domestic violence, relationship violence, smoking, physical exercise, nutrition/diet, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and poverty. Parents were asked about their own health behaviors as well as the perceived behaviors of their children. Results from the individual interviews will be discussed along with their implications for the design of future community-based intervention programs.

Learning Objectives:
• Describe the need to tailor health education and health promotion intervention programs to the needs of specific youth communities; • Examine the relationship between health topics identified by teens and their parents as important to inner-city youth, their families, and their communities; • Examine the relationship between the health behaviors of teens and health behaviors of their parents; • Examine the relationship between reported health behaviors of teens and their health behaviors as perceived by their parents; • Discuss future directions in health education among inner-city youth residing in small urban communities.

Keywords: Adolescent Health, Health Needs

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am the PI of the Albany Youth Health Survey and the Albany Parents Health Survey, and Executive Director of a mentoring program for inner-city youth.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.