Teens Working for Reform: Promoting Adolescent and

Community Health via Positive Youth Development Laurie L. Meschke, PhD

Department of Public Health

Objectives

•  Define positive youth development •  Describe healthy ways in which youth

benefit from PYD in the TOWER program. •  Outline successful approaches used to

increase youth self-efficacy toward health behaviors.

Positive Youth Development 1

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Evolution to Youth Development 2,3,4

•  Deficit model: Reduce or eliminate risk behavior of youth at risk

•  Resiliency model: Focus on protective factors related to success of at risk youth

•  Youth development model: Focus on promoting a healthy transition to adulthood

Problem free is not fully prepared.

Karen Pittman

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Positive Youth Development1,3

•  Approach to promote healthy adolescent development

•  Emphasizes plasticity across the lifespan •  Rooted in psychological theories •  Appreciation of out of school time •  Focus on fostering youth assets

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Youth Development Outcomes 5

•  Promoting a healthy transition to adulthood •  Competence •  Confidence •  Connection •  Character •  Caring •  Contributions

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Describe healthy ways in which youth benefit from PYD in the ToWeR program

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ToWeR: Teen Working for Reform •  Organic, community-based origins •  Curriculum-based •  Evidence-based strategies

•  Developmentally appropriate practice6

•  Cultural humility7

•  Group work8

•  Guided by social cognitive theory9

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ToWeR Structure

•  2 curriculums, ages 10-14 and 15-18 •  10 structured 1 hour sessions per

semester •  1 UTK retreat per semester •  Directly financed through the Department

of Public Health10 and Great Schools Partnership11

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ToWeR Semesters Fall: Community Health Assessment

•  Prioritize health issue of interest

•  Collect and analyze data •  Present findings and

recommendations to the community

Spring: Advocacy •  Revisit health issue •  Identify goal, audience,

and advocacy strategy •  Present recommended

action to group or person(s) responsible for addressing health action

Ideally  the  same  youth  across  both  semesters.      

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UTK  ToWeR  Retreat  Spring  2017  

ToWeR video by TruckBeat12

•  Neighborhood Safety: A Child’s Eye-View •  Focus on Sarah Moore Green 5th grade

students, Spring 2016 •  Goal: Enhance community safety

•  Objective: Improve built environment

Youth Benefits5

•  Competence: Presentation skills, research skills & vocabulary

•  Confidence: Introductions, public speaking, goal setting

•  Connection: Youth-community reciprocity •  Character: Civic engagement, •  Caring: Relationship building, community pride •  Contributions: Sidewalks, lighting, signage,

crosswalks, filtered water station, community-police relationships, more youth development programs

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Vine  Middle  School  ToWeR  with  elected  and  appointed  city  government  officials,  Spring  2016  

Outline successful approaches used to increase youth self-efficacy toward health behaviors

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Developmentally Appropriate Practices (DAP)6

•  Two DAP curricula: 10-14 and 15-18 •  Training of graduate students in DAP •  Intentional creation of youth leadership roles

•  Team member •  Researchers •  Advocates •  Community health educators •  Public speaker •  Culture experts

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Cultural Competence

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Learning  of  Others’  Culture  

Cultural Humility7

Self  ReflecJon  

Learning  of  Others’  Culture  

Cultural Humility7 •  Beyond cultural competency which focuses

on knowledge of another culture •  Life long process •  Incorporate self-reflection or reflexivity •  Better understanding of self

•  Anticipation of biases and judgements •  Better understanding of others •  Fosters trust •  Positively related to exposure to other

cultures

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Emotional & Physical Safety2

•  Group agreements •  Posted schedule •  Low youth to adult ratio (4:1) •  Consistency in adults, youth, place, time •  Ritual and/or structure

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Facilitating Skill Development8

•  Limit assistance; empower students to manage their learning •  Developmentally appropriate practice •  Socialization

•  Promoting the voice of all •  Nerves – talk too little, talk too much •  Solicit youth feedback on facilitation skills

Sharing Power •  Encourage member to member (not

facilitator) communication •  Solicit feedback on day’s plan when feasible •  Encourage youth leadership as it emerges •  Support sharing and support between

members •  Model healthy leadership or power use •  Discuss leadership strategies when possible;

reflect on actions and their effectiveness

Meaningful Youth Participation

•  Reflection •  Before: Guide youth in connecting upcoming

activity to previous experience or expertise •  During: Connect youth to their emotions and

link activity to skills that are being practiced •  After: Assist youth in connecting skills

practiced to future applications and contexts

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Benefits of Group Cohesion or Relationship Building •  Enhanced feeling expression •  Willingness to listen •  Acceptance and use of participant feedback •  Prosocial membership influence •  Greater self-confidence and self-esteem •  Satisfaction with group •  Perseverance toward and attainment of goals •  Take responsibility for group functioning •  Attendance

Wrap Up •  YD: Paradigm shift that challenges intrinsic

bias •  Promotes 5 Cs:

•  Competence •  Confidence •  Connection •  Character •  Caring •  Contributions

•  Curriculum structure and training support transition to a youth development approach

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References 1.  Roth, J. L., & Brooks-Gunn, J. (2016). Evaluating youth development programs: Progress and promise.

Applied Developmental Science, 20, 188-202. 2.  Piha, S., & Tamar-Mattis, A. (2001). Youth Development Guide. San Francisco, CA: Community Network

for Youth Development. 3.  Bernat, D. H., & Resnick, M. D. (2006). Healthy youth development: Science and strategies. Journal of

Public Health Management and Practice, 12, S10-S16. 4.  Pittman, K., Irby, M., & Ferber, T. (2000). Unfinished business: Further reflections on a decade of

promoting youth development. Youth development: Issues, challenges and directions. (pp. 17-64). 5.  Lerner, R. M., Lerner, J. V., et al. (2005). The Positive Development of Youth: Report of the findings from

the first seven years of the 4-H study of positive youth development. Chevy Chase, MD: National 4-H Council.

6.  Meschke, L. L., Peter, C. R., & Bartholomae, S. (2012). Developmentally appropriate practice to promote healthy adolescent development: Integrating research and practice. In Child & Youth Care Forum (Vol. 41, No. 1, pp. 89-108). Springer US.

7.  Yeager, K. A., & Bauer-Wu, S. (2013). Cultural humility: Essential foundation for clinical researchers. Applied Nursing Research, 26(4), 251-256.

8.  Toseland, R. W., & Rivas, R. F. (2016). An introduction to group work practice. Pearson. 9.  Bandura, A. (1998). Health promotion from the perspective of social cognitive theory. Psychology and

health, 13(4), 623-649. 10. University of Tennessee Department of Public Health (n.d.). Welcome. Accessed on September 22, 2017

from http://publichealth.utk.edu/. 11.  Great Schools Partnership (2017). Homepage. Accessed on September 22,2017 from

http://www.greatschoolspartnership.com/. 12.  Truck Beat (2016). Homepage. Accessed on September 22, 2017 from http://truckbeat.org/.

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