Training the next environmental health leaders: Participatory strategies in a Mexican-American farmworker community

With the goal of translating environmental health research into positive change, we employed participatory strategies to train and empower youth in a Mexican-American farmworker community. We recruited 15 middle school youth to join a Youth Community Council (YCC) as part of an ongoing birth cohort study (CHAMACOS) focused on environmental health in Salinas, CA. In this pilot phase, our goals were to educate youth about environmental health, and support their efforts to study and improve environmental conditions adversely impacting health in their community. Photovoice, a methodology involving participatory photography for action-oriented inquiry, was employed over 10 two-hour sessions to accomplish these goals. The essential components of photovoice will be described, along with key themes identified by the youth, including poor access to healthy foods, limited walkability in their community, and sparse recycling particularly at their schools. Obstacles encountered included institutional barriers and conflicting schedules precluding some youth from consistent participation. The project's dissemination and action phases included presentations at community forums and meetings with elected officials. We will present initial outcomes of the action phase including adoption of a school based recycling program and a youth-led walkathon focused in part on the built environment. Results of the ongoing evaluation, which included students' written reflections, recordings and analysis of key discussions, and a questionnaire, also will be discussed. Despite the challenges, both the formal evaluation and responses of community members and key decision makers suggested that the YCC, with its photovoice methodology, was an effective vehicle for training young environmental health leaders in this Mexican American farmworker community. Implications for other youth-focused environmental health training programs interested in incorporating a photovoice approach will be discussed.