Youth on Health! Lessons learned from a health disparity education program for urban youth

Recognizing the need to diversify the public health and healthcare workforce, the Hispanic Health Council (HHC) piloted Youth on Health! (YOH!), a unique, forty-session health disparity education program targeting Hartford adolescents. YOH! sought to increase knowledge, interest and confidence in the youths' ability to address health disparities through participatory research, service and advocacy. The YOH! curriculum included ten modules on healthy lifestyles, health disparities, health research and policy advocacy as well as experiential exercises integrated throughout. Preliminary data (n=9) indicate high levels of satisfaction among participants (average score was 3.49 on a scale of 1 to 4, with 78% being somewhat satisfied and 12% as very satisfied) and increases in knowledge, interest, and confidence (e.g. prior to YOH!, 22% of participants were very or quite confident that they had a basic understanding of health disparities, whereas after YOH! this percentage increased to 77.8%, p=.052).

The lessons learned from the development process were:

„X A group size of 10-15 participants was ideal for group cohesion and retention;

„X Artistic expression and wellness sessions proved to be critical elements of the curriculum;

„X Educational field trips provided an effective complement to classroom learning;

„X Recreational activities balanced educational sessions with opportunities for socializing;

„X Stronger engagement of participants' parents would have facilitated more successful retention.

The next steps include revision of the curriculum based on these "lessons learned" and replication of the model with a more comprehensive evaluation and larger sample size.

Funded by CEHDL (NIH-NCMHD grant # P20MD001765).