Youth Engagement & Action for Health

The Youth Engagement & Action for Health (YEAH!) manual and supplementary trainings were developed to train leaders of youth groups to engage youth and adults to plan and implement projects designed to create neighborhoods where it is easier for people to be healthy.  Engaging neighborhood youth and adults creates a strong community of people who become empowered to work for changes that support a healthier lifestyle.  Youth are trained to conduct neighborhood assessments, select a meaningful project, and advocate for change with local policy and decision makers. By participating in these projects, youth identify and work toward a goal, become empowered to create positive change, gain valuable leadership experience, and build a foundation for life-long community involvement.

Who can lead a YEAH! project?

• Coordinators/directors of youth activities within community organizations
• Managers of local community and teen centers
• Coordinators of school or after-school programs
• City and community youth advisory commission/committee/council leaders
• Youth leaders in religious organizations
• Graduate students
• Other adults who are interested in working with youth to improve the quality of life in their neighborhood

What does YEAH! teach our community?

• Why youth engagement is important in your community
• How to conduct community assessments to identify strengths and weaknesses in local food and physical activity environments
• How to advocate for changes that promote a healthier community

What's in it for youth?
While participating in a YEAH! project, youth identify and work toward a goal and gain valuable leadership experience.  Youth participants learn how their neighborhood environment impacts health and discover their voice in community advocacy.  Participation in YEAH! can qualify as community service credit or as a senior project.  Participants also may receive a thank you letter from the San Diego County Childhood Obesity Initiative acknowledging their experience and service.

How can you get involved?
YEAH! trainings are scheduled intermittently throughout the year and are free to attend.  For more information, please contact Melanie Cohn, Manager at 858.609.7963 or e-mail.

You can also visit us on Facebook to learn more.

Evaluation of Youth Engagement and Action for Health (e-YEAH!)
In January 2011, Active Living Research and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation funded a two-year evaluation of YEAH! known as e-YEAH!   e-YEAH! uses a quasi-experimental design to evaluate the impact of YEAH! participation on youth, adult leaders, and decision makers. Data are collected through written baseline and post-surveys of youth, on-line surveys of adult mentors, and interviews with decision-makers who are the focus of advocacy efforts. Outcome variables include measures of policy and environmental change, youth empowerment, self-efficacy, and readiness to act as advocates. Evaluation findings will describe changes in youth participants, characteristics of successful advocacy groups, guide improvements to the YEAH! program, and provide insight into the potential for youth advocacy to influence community environmental/policy change.

We are actively recruiting groups using the YEAH! program, and working with youth 11-18 years old.  Modest incentives are available for participating in the study.  For more information about the evaluation study, please contact Leslie Linton, leslie@healthpolicyconsulting.com or Chris Edwards, cedwards@healthpolicyconsulting.com.

This is a project of the San Diego County Childhood Obesity Initiative and its community partners, including County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency, California Endowment's Healthy Eating, Active Living, the City of La Mesa and WalkSanDiego.