Youth gardeners: Developing a youth-focused racial justice and social determinants of health curriculum

The principles of health equity and racial justice are central to understanding and promoting public health. This is especially true for youth of color who may be disproportionately vulnerable to the consequences of health inequities. However, youth often do not have the conceptual framework to describe their lived experience with racial injustice. There is a need to train youth in concepts around health equity not only because they are at risk for health inequities but because they have access to social networks that can be mobilized to make change. The Boston Public Health Commission collaborated with high-school youth to develop media messages designed to educate adolescents on health equity and racial justice concepts. We will outline the need for youth to be educated about health equity and racial justice. We will also describe the process of developing the health equity and racial justice curriculum including the strategies we utilized to facilitate a youth-designed media message around health equity using Camara Jones’ “Gardner’s Tale” analogy of structural racism as a framework. Lastly we will discuss the challenges and lessons learned translating health equity concepts for youth through a traditional health education framework.