Youth empowerment through health education: A community and university partnership with a high school to teach low-income students in California about health and life wellness

Background/Significance: Despite the perception of Orange County, California being a wealthy and homogeneous area, there are many diverse, low-income youth with some of the highest school dropout rates and health disparities in the nation.  Our unique community/ university/ high school partnership provides after-school health and mentoring support to a freshmen cohort of 50 low-income, high-risk youth (mainly Asian Pacific Islander and Latino) in Orange County in order to improve their assets in these areas: (1) academic support and enrichment; (2) life skills development; (3) personal development and wellness; (4) cultural awareness and community enrichment and engagement; (5) College Preparation and Career Development; and (6) Health and Safety Behaviors in four main areas: behavioral and mental health, diabetes, substance use and abuse, and tobacco prevention and control.

Methods: The evaluation framework for our program focuses on an ecological, community-based model and includes the Search Institute’s 40 Developmental Assets, the Healthy People 2020 Goals/Objectives, the Youth Risk Behavior Survey. Data on these measures will be compared between the 50 students in our intervention high school versus the 50 students in our control high school. 

Results: We will describe our program’s collaborative partnership, explain the after-school curriculum, present the first year pre-post survey results, and discuss effective individual, family, and community strategies for improving student physical activity, nutrition, mental health, healthy decision-making, and leadership skills. 

Discussion/Conclusions: While community/ university partnerships with schools may present some challenges, the benefits can contribute to more effective and sustainable health programs.

Learning Areas:

Administer health education strategies, interventions and programs
Conduct evaluation related to programs, research, and other areas of practice
Diversity and culture
Implementation of health education strategies, interventions and programs
Planning of health education strategies, interventions, and programs
Program planning

Learning Objectives:
Discuss the significance of community and university partnerships in promoting health education, academic achievement, and leadership development for high school students. Explain how an assets-based health education program can help students to improve their physical activity and nutrition, mental health, and overall life wellness. Identify recommendations for developing effective and sustainable community/ university/ school partnerships to promote student health and empowerment.

Keyword(s): Adolescents, School-Based Health

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I have been Principal or Co-Principal Investigator and have served as an evaluation consultant on several federally funded grants focusing on health education programs, particularly for Asian and Pacific Islander communities and youth programs.
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.

Back to: 4260.0: Community and university partnerships with schools