Harnessing health information to foster disadvantaged teens' community engagement, leadership skills, and career plans: a qualitative evaluation of the Teen Health Leadership Program.

Alla Keselman,Einas A Ahmed,Deborah C Williamson,Gale A Dutcher,Janice E Kelly

doi:10.3163/1536-5050.103.2.005

Abstract

This paper describes a qualitative evaluation of a small-scale program aiming to improve health information literacy, leadership skills, and interest in health careers among high school students in a low-income, primarily minority community. Graduates participated in semi-structured interviews, transcripts of which were coded with a combination of objectives-driven and data-driven categories. The program had a positive impact on the participants' health information competency, leadership skills, academic orientation, and interest in health careers. Program enablers included a supportive network of adults, novel experiences, and strong mentorship. The study suggests that health information can provide a powerful context for enabling disadvantaged students' community engagement and academic success.

Highlights

Thirty-six percent of US adults have limited health literacy, which puts them at risk for underuse of preventative care, suboptimal health-related decisions, and poorer health [1]
This paper describes a qualitative evaluation of a smallscale program aiming to improve health information literacy, leadership skills, and interest in health careers among high school students in a low-income, primarily minority community
Several participants commented on how their knowledge of health information resources gained through Teen Health Leadership Program (THLP) brought a sense of competence and empowerment to their interactions with family and community

Summary

INTRODUCTION

Thirty-six percent of US adults have limited health literacy, which puts them at risk for underuse of preventative care, suboptimal health-related decisions, and poorer health [1]. The National Library of Medicine (NLM) 2006-to-2016 long-range plan stresses the importance of developing health information outreach programs for underserved populations, including school-age youth [4]. It emphasizes the importance of creating a diverse health care workforce by increasing the visibility of health-related careers among K–12 students. The Teen Health Leadership Program (THLP) is a small pilot program that engages at-risk high school students in health information advocacy and outreach, aiming to increase their (1) health information literacy (and, possibly, health knowledge and behaviors), (2) leadership skills and community engagement, and (3) interest in careers in health care and biomedicine. Thirty-one of the graduates were African American and two Hispanic; twenty-five were female and eight male

Evaluation objectives

Procedure

RESULTS

DISCUSSION