248696 BxTHUNDER youth peer education workshops: The 'Aha!' moments

Tuesday, November 1, 2011: 1:30 PM

Rosy Chhabra, PsyD , Pediatrics, Albert Einstein College of Medicine/Yeshiva University, Bronx, NY
Ken Wilson, PsyD , Preventive Intervention Research Center, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY
Marni L. LoIacono Merves, MSW, MA , Pediatrics, Albert Einstein College of Medicine/Yeshiva University, Bronx, NY
Caryn R. R. Rodgers, PhD , Preventive Intervention Research Center, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY
Angelic Rivera, MPH, MCHES , Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University, Preventive Intervention Research Center for Child Health, Bronx, NY
Lorlette Haughton, BA , Pediatrics, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY
Laurie J. Bauman, PhD , Pediatrics, Albert Einstein College of Medicine/Yeshiva University, Bronx, NY
BxTHUNDER intervention is the product of a youth-led Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) initiative developed to reduce mental health disparities in Bronx adolescents. As part of a randomized control trial (RCT), it is being implemented in multiple community sites in the Bronx, NY. BxTHUNDER is a positive youth development program that 1) empowers teens as ambassadors to other teens to reduce mental health stigma and increase knowledge; and 2) consolidates and reinforces their knowledge and skill base by active teaching. The program has two parts. The first is 14 sessions that utilize mental health professionals to build strengths, protective factors, resilience and positive mental health through teaching of specific social skills to increase competence for participating youth. The second part engages the youth to lead and participate in a four week peer education workshop component. As part of this component, the participants learn to incorporate their experiential knowledge and learned skills into facilitating workshops for their peers and community to reduce stigma and promote knowledge and understanding of mental health issues among teens. In effective interventions, it is important to ascertain participants' learning and ownership. This workshop component has turned out to be the 'Aha!' moment for both the participants and the program trainers: it is an important indicator of the individual ownership and group learning process. In this presentation, we will explain the two components of the BxTHUNDER program and how developing and implementing the workshops leads to these 'Aha!' moments.

Learning Areas:
Implementation of health education strategies, interventions and programs

Learning Objectives:
1. Describe three benefits of using peer led workshops for youth. 2. Identify two ways that Trainers can use peer led workshops to assess knowledge acquisition.

Keywords: Adolescent Health, Health Education Strategies

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am a co-investigator on the funded grant.
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.