141st APHA Annual Meeting

In This section

292519
Inspiring adolescents toward careers in health professions- a community & university intervention

Tuesday, November 5, 2013 : 5:10 PM - 5:30 PM

Ranelle Brew, EdD, CHES , Public Health, Grand Valley State University, Grand Rapids, MI
An innovative summer camp, sHaPe – Summer Health Activities and Professions Exploration, provides Grand Rapids Public School students with the opportunity to explore careers in the health sciences, participate in hands-on activities that include laboratories and simulations, learn about personal health and fitness, and have a positive exposure to a college experience in a safe setting. The primary goals of camp include: educating under-represented populations about health and to encourage them to pursue careers in the health sciences within our local community.

The camp was designed as a community partnership for local 8th or 9th graders and Grand Valley State University. Since this is a key time when students are considering careers and preparing themselves academically for college, we recognized the lack of minorities represented in our health professions in West Michigan, also aligning with Healthy People 2020. Therefore this partnership is making a direct impact.

Both short-term and longitudinal evaluation measures have been implemented. Short-term include student and parent surveys, content pre/post-tests, and attitudinal evaluations. All have demonstrated significant changes in the students' outlook on considering health professions and attending college. In addition, reported longitudinal data will identify the camp's impact on students' future career choices through high school graduation. Four years of data will be reported to: 1. Describe sHaPe summer camp's partnership between Grand Valley State University and Grand Rapids Public Schools. 2. Explain experiences that students have while attending this hands-on, interactive camp approach to exploring the health professions. 3. Compare and contrast pre/post data from four years of camp outcomes.

Learning Areas:
Administer health education strategies, interventions and programs
Advocacy for health and health education
Implementation of health education strategies, interventions and programs
Planning of health education strategies, interventions, and programs
Public health or related education

Learning Objectives:
Describe the importance of this community outreach program aligning with Healthy People 2020 initiatives for encouraging youth to explore careers in health professions. Explain experiences that urban, middle schools students have while attending this hands-on, interactive camp approach to exploring the health professions. Compare and contrast pre/post data from four years of camp outcomes and our first year of long term data.

Keywords: Community Outreach, Adolescents

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I have been the director, originator and principal investigator for the sHaPe summer camp program since it's inception. All HRRC approval and data has been collected by me personally through my tenture-track doctorally prepared faculty position in Public Health at GVSU. I am a certified health educator. I have presented at several natonal public health conferences.
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.