141st APHA Annual Meeting

In This section

286566
Building local movements of Asian American and Pacific Islander college student leaders in promoting global sexual health and reproductive justice: The power of community-based participatory research and campus-community partnerships in social action

Monday, November 4, 2013

Tu-Uyen Nguyen, PhD, MPH , Asian American Studies, California State University, Fullerton (CSUF), Fullerton, CA
Melissa Kwon, PhD , National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum (NAPAWF), MN
Miriam Yeung , National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum (NAPAWF), NY
ABSTRACT Background/Significance: Community-based participatory action research is a promising framework for promoting student learning and social action, especially in health areas that are often difficult to discuss with young adults, such as sexual and reproductive health. Objective/Purpose: The Young Women's Collaborative (YWC), a project of the National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum, is a college student-led research and activism project that has had student cohorts at six different U.S public universities (in California and Minnesota) in the last six years. The purpose of YWC is to provide leadership development and research training for college students through social activism projects in the areas of sexual health and reproductive justice. Methods: We will share our experiences of teaching and working on a community-based participatory research (CBPR) study (involving a survey with over 3000 students) as part of the 2012-2013 YWC classes. Results: Students used survey research results to develop social action campaigns on and off campus to educate school and community members about sexual and reproductive health issues. Along with the research results, we will discuss the various strategies students developed to raise awareness about women's sexual health issues and available services - including using social media, presenting to student clubs and organizations, participating at conferences, and presenting to legislators and policy makers. Discussion/Conclusions: We will discuss the unique CBPR service-learning framework and offer recommendations for developing campus-community partnerships, particularly focusing on the individual and institutional benefits as well as the challenges experienced by partners and stakeholders involved in the project.

Learning Areas:
Advocacy for health and health education
Planning of health education strategies, interventions, and programs
Public health or related public policy
Public health or related research
Social and behavioral sciences
Systems thinking models (conceptual and theoretical models), applications related to public health

Learning Objectives:
Describe the Young Women’s Collaborative (YWC) project and the significance of this project in promoting leadership development and public health research training for college students. Discuss how a community-based participatory action research framework can be used to train student leaders in health promotion and social action. Identify recommendations for developing campus-community partnerships to promote sexual and reproductive health among college students locally and globally.

Keywords: College Students, Asian and Pacific Islander Women

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I taught one of the classes of college students involved in the Young Women's Collaborative (YWC) and have over a decade of experience in conducting community-based participatory action research.
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.