142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition

Annual Meeting Recordings are now available for purchase

309955
Teens4Good: Positive Youth Development Through Urban Community Gardening

142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition (November 15 - November 19, 2014): http://www.apha.org/events-and-meetings/annual
Tuesday, November 18, 2014 : 9:30 AM - 9:50 AM

Katelyn Hurley, MPH , Department of Family and Community Medicine, Thomas Jefferson Univeristy, Philadelphia, PA
Colleen Payton, MPH, CHES , Department of Family and Community Medicine, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA
Diane Cornman-Levy, MPT , Federation of Neighborhood Centers, Philadelphia, PA
Nancy L. Chernett, MA, MPH , Jefferson School of Population Health, Thomas Jefferson University, Phildelphia, PA
Teens that grow up in underserved neighborhoods are at risk for a variety of negative health outcomes. Many underserved neighborhoods also suffer from issues related to food insecurity. Teens4Good (T4G) is a youth-led entrepreneurial program that aims to (1) improve leadership skills, work readiness skills, nutrition knowledge and healthy eating behaviors in at-risk teens through a paid six-week farming and business internship; and (2) ameliorate income and place barriers to accessing healthy affordable food by converting vacant city lots into community gardens in Philadelphia. A qualitative program evaluation using semi-structured interviews with T4G staff and focus groups with T4G interns was conducted to determine the impact of the summer internship on youth participants. Program impact on participants’ families and the community was also explored. Interviews and focus groups were audio recorded and transcribed, and coded to reveal themes. Results demonstrate that teens build confidence, and learn communication, leadership and professional development skills through business training, hands-on farming, and relationship building experiences. Youth reported learning about new and different kinds of fruits and vegetables and described eating more fruits and vegetables as a result of participating in the internship. Findings suggest this multi-component program has positive influence on nutrition habits in participants’ families, and positively impacts the community by increasing access to healthy food in underserved neighborhoods. Our results suggest that T4G is making a positive impact on youth participants, with program impact being greatest on teens that intern for more than one year with T4G.

Learning Areas:

Conduct evaluation related to programs, research, and other areas of practice
Public health or related education

Learning Objectives:
Describe an urban community garden program that promotes the health of youth and stimulates positive change in families and communities through youth empowerment, employment and education Analyze a multifaceted program that addresses positive development in at-risk youth as well as food insecurity in underserved communities

Keyword(s): Youth, Workforce Development

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am qualified to present because I work on research focusing primarily on urban and underserved populations, and qualitative research methods. A majority of the research projects I work on involve program development, quality improvement and program evaluation, many with community organizations. I also currently work on research focusing on obesity and weight management in urban underserved.
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.