Project share: A program to develop and empower teen health advocates

Objective: This paper describes the implementation of Project SHARE (Student Health Advocates Redefining Empowerment), a three-year, $205,000 project funded by an NLM Information Resource Grant to Reduce Health Disparities. Through a partnership between University of Maryland's Health Sciences and Human Services Library and Vivien T. Thomas Medical Arts Academy, a nearby high school, selected students develop skills to advocate for better health at the personal, family and community level.

Methods: The aims of Project SHARE are to empower high school students as community health advocates, promote improved health, reduce health disparities in Baltimore neighborhoods and develop a replicable student health advocacy program that can be used by community-academic partnerships nationwide. This presentation reports on building successful partnerships with school administrators; student recruitment; program staffing and evaluation; and the development of a health promotion curriculum aligned with national standards such as Healthy People 2020, National Health Education Standards, and National Partnership for Action to End Health Disparities.

In the project's first phase, students build capacity/skills by participating in training sessions on topics such as health literacy, cultural competency, and navigating the health care system. In its second phase, students learn through experience as they plan and lead health promotion events in communities throughout Baltimore.

the project and the efficacy of the curriculum, informed by a web-based pre/post test that was administered to the students.