Health Ambassadors Club, an after-school initiative to build partnerships with an inner-city school, school-based health center, and a College of Nursing

Introduction: Over the past 30 years, the rates of obesity for all 12-19 year olds have grown from 5% to 21%, with African American and Hispanic youth disproportionately affected. After-school programs present opportunities to address this issue.  College of Nursing partnered with school and school-based health center stakeholders at a predominately minority, inner city medical preparatory high school to develop a program focusing on nutrition/physical activity, leadership and mentorship in health careers.

Methods: Public health nursing (PHN) students collaborated with high school students and teachers to establish the after-school Health Ambassadors Club (HAC). The goal of HAC is for students to become health leaders that promote healthy behaviors to peers, staff and family members.  After 3 months, HAC students were surveyed regarding program satisfaction. Healthy lifestyle knowledge and behaviors, self-efficacy to model healthy behavior and satisfaction with HAC will be assessed at 9, 12, and 18 months.

Results: At 6 months, 24 PHN students have mentored 50 high school students. The HAC students have elected an executive board that takes leadership roles in scheduling activities for the club. HAC members have planned school-wide activities, such as cooking demonstrations, 5K run, and media presentations regarding health careers.   70% of HAC members “strongly agreed” they are satisfied with club activities. PHN students met course competencies and developed leadership skills and confidence through this community-engaged approach.

Conclusion: HAC is an innovative academic-community partnership model that promotes and encourages at-risk adolescents to take leadership roles as ambassadors for healthy lifestyles within their school community.