Youth participation in a community campaign to pass a clean indoor air ordinance

Identifying Root Causes: Evaluation of a Program to Engage Youth in a Social Justice Approach to Tobacco Control

Movements designed to engage youth in tobacco control have been an important part of tobacco prevention for decades. Today, young people are increasingly diverse, and their primary issues of concern are gun control, racism, mental health, and climate change. To engage today's young people, tobacco control programs need to draw connections between youth's identities, top issues, and tobacco. UpRISE is a social justice youth tobacco control movement that engages diverse youth in identifying the root causes of youth nicotine use. In 2018-2019, 21 youth-serving organizations and schools hosted youth coalitions. Coalitions engaged in a six-session workbook called "Getting to the root cause," and adults were provided training and reflective supervision. Pre/post surveys with youth participants (n = 180) and end-of-year interviews with adult facilitators (n = 22) were used to assess outcomes. The primary outcomes were supportive adult relationships, youth voice in decision-making, anti-tobacco industry attitudes and beliefs, psychological empowerment, critical consciousness, and global belief in a just world. Quantitative measures of supportive adult relationships, youth voice in decision-making, psychological empowerment, and anti-tobacco industry attitudes and beliefs all increased significantly over time (p < .0001, p < .0001, p < .0001, p = .0034, respectively). Critical consciousness and global belief in a just world did not change significantly. During interviews, adults reported learning how: to engage in youth-adult partnerships, the tobacco industry abused its power, to engage in critical reflection about power. Adults also felt empowered. UpRISE may be a promising approach to increase racially diverse youth's engagement in social justice-oriented tobacco control efforts that advance equity.

Adolescent Smoking Prevention: Feasibility and Effect of Participatory Video Production

PURPOSE

This study tested whether a youth participatory video production program for smoking prevention is feasible and effective.

DESIGN AND METHODS

A participatory video production program was implemented in eight twice-weekly sessions at a youth summer camp in a community center in a low-income neighborhood. Twenty-three youths participated. Descriptive statistics and a qualitative analysis were conducted to test the feasibility of the program by assessing attendance rates, the time and resources required, reasons for participation, and program satisfaction using checklists and interviews. Smoking intention was measured via pre- and post-intervention surveys and a quantitative analysis utilizing a Wilcoxon Signed Rank test to detect differences in intention for non-smoking.

RESULTS

Participants worked in groups to produce four video clips containing anti-smoking messages. Three main themes (active engagement, participation for community health, and personal growth and healthy development) emerged from the qualitative interview data. >75% of the participants considered the program excellent and stated that it met their expectations. Significant positive changes were also found from baseline to post-intervention in intention not to smoke.

CONCLUSIONS

This study demonstrated the effect of a participatory digital media production approach and confirmed its feasibility for youth health promotion and health education. Participants' active involvement in producing anti-smoking videos for a community health-promotion campaign decreased their intention to smoke and empowered them as advocates for a non-smoking community.

PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS

These findings confirm the feasibility and utility of digital media use and interactive technology for actively engaging young people in health promotion.

Necessary but not sufficient? Engaging young people in the development of an avatar-based online intervention designed to provide psychosocial support to young people affected by their own or a family member's cancer diagnosis

Objective

This study discusses the challenges and successes of engaging young people in a project aimed at developing an online counselling intervention for young people affected by cancer.

Context

For younger people with a diagnosis of cancer or who are caring for someone with cancer, the psychosocial consequences can create significant challenges for their social and educational development. Whilst young people have been shown to be reluctant to make use of traditional face‐to‐face counselling, research is beginning to suggest that effective therapeutic relationships can be formed with young people online.

Design

The first phase of the study involved working with a ‘Young Persons’ Panel’ of healthy school pupils and university students to develop and pilot an online counselling intervention and study materials in preparation for a pilot evaluation of the intervention.

Intervention

An avatar‐based virtual reality counselling world was created where young people can create their own avatar and receive counselling over the Internet from a qualified counsellor via an avatar in a virtual reality world.

Findings

The process of engaging young people in the C:EVOLVE project enabled a unique intervention to be developed and demonstrated positive developmental opportunities. However, despite the rigorous approach to the development of the intervention, initial attempts within the pilot evaluation phase of the study showed difficulties recruiting to the study, and this phase of the study has currently ceased whilst further exploratory work takes place.

Conclusion

This study has demonstrated the complexities of intervention development and evaluation research targeted at young people and the challenges created when attempting to bring clinical practice and research evaluation together.

Community-Based Participatory Research Conceptual Model: Community Partner Consultation and Face Validity

A national community-based participatory research (CBPR) team developed a conceptual model of CBPR partnerships to understand the contribution of partnership processes to improved community capacity and health outcomes. With the model primarily developed through academic literature and expert consensus building, we sought community input to assess face validity and acceptability. Our research team conducted semi-structured focus groups with six partnerships nationwide. Participants validated and expanded on existing model constructs and identified new constructs based on "real-world" praxis, resulting in a revised model. Four cross-cutting constructs were identified: trust development, capacity, mutual learning, and power dynamics. By empirically testing the model, we found community face validity and capacity to adapt the model to diverse contexts. We recommend partnerships use and adapt the CBPR model and its constructs, for collective reflection and evaluation, to enhance their partnering practices and achieve their health and research goals.

Engaging homeless youth in community-based participatory research: a case study from Skid Row, Los Angeles

Growing evidence highlights the benefits to youth of involvement in community-based participatory research. Less attention has been paid, however, to the contributions youth can make to helping change health-promoting policy through such work. We describe a multi-method case study of a policy-focused community-based participatory research project in the Skid Row area of downtown Los Angeles, California, where a small group of homeless youth worked with adult mentors to develop and conduct a survey of 96 homeless youth and used the findings to help secure health-promoting policy change. We review the partnership's work at each stage of the policy-making process; its successes in changing policy regarding recreation, juvenile justice, and education; and the challenges encountered, especially with policy enforcement. We share lessons learned, including the importance of strong adult mentors and of policy environments conducive to sustainable, health-promoting change for marginalized youth.