Process-evaluation of the implementation of a collaborative community programme for health, safety and talent development in youth

BackgroundReducing socioeconomic health inequalities among youth is a major challenge for governments around the world and reports on successful attempts are scarce. Socioecological and integral approaches with collaborative partnerships and community engagement are recommended but knowledge about the effectiveness and effective and ineffective elements is limited. The Promising Neighbourhoods program employs such an approach aiming to reduce socioeconomic inequalities in health, safety and talent development in youth. We will evaluate the process-implementation, and effectiveness of the Promising Neighbourhoods program.Methods/designCore elements of Promising Neighbourhoods are a collaborative community programming approach with stakeholders, data-based priority setting, knowledge-, and theory-based policies and evidence-based interventions. Community stakeholders and key-leaders from the neighbourhoods are engaged in the program. For this evaluation study the program will be implemented in three intervention neighbourhoods. These neighbourhoods will be compared to three control neighbourhoods at baseline in 2018/2019 and at follow-up in 2020/2021 after full implementation of the Promising Neighbourhoods program. Intervention neighbourhoods receive a tailored intervention-package including evidence-based interventions and additional measures by community stakeholders. In control neighbourhoods, no special planning will take place thus interventions are offered as usual. A mixed-methods approach following the stages of the logic model from program is applied for this evaluation. Questionnaires, focus groups, and registration data will be collected among community stakeholders, key-leaders, and youth to evaluate the process-implementation of the program. Indicators of intermediate and ultimate outcomes will be studied among N = 818 children and N = 818 youngsters using difference-in-difference regression analysis to evaluate the effectiveness of the Promising Neighbourhoods program.DiscussionHypotheses are that a collaborative community approach with stakeholders leads to clear priority-setting and better tailored interventions of better quality. We further hypothesise a decline in socioeconomic inequalities in intermediate and ultimate outcomes for health, safety and talent development in the intervention neighbourhoods in comparison to control neighbourhoods. The results add knowledge about effective and ineffective elements of collaborative community programming approaches to reduce health inequalities in youth and thus are relevant for local and national public health authorities.Trial registrationNetherlands National Trial Register number NL7279. Date of registration: 26-Sept-2018.

Advancing Sexual and Reproductive Health Education—Pursuing the Long Arc of Justice

Adolescent sexuality and reproductive health: where are we in 2004?

Effective programs for youth can reduce problem behaviors and promote positive development. In particular, cultural assets (e.g., ethnic-racial identity) are important for African American youth's health and development. In this article, we argue that youth programs represent an important social context for African American youth's development of positive ethnic-racial identity and we present a conceptual framework for understanding how such programs may affect African American youth's development in this area. Then we provide examples of evidence-based programs that have assessed this developmental process among African American youth. We conclude with considerations for research.

Football is one of the most complex and competitive sports in which to reach elite levels (Haugaasen, Toering, & Jordet, 2014). Differences in sport systems, societal norms, cultural traditions, sociological and organisational issues may influence an athlete’s complex career development journey (Stambulova, 2009; Henriksen et al., 2010; Richardson, Relvas, & Littlewood, 2013). An ecological approach to development views child development within the context of a system of relationships that form his or her environment; therefore, to foster future positive behaviours and change developmental trajectories one must identify and understand direct and indirect influences on development (Bronfenbrenner, 1977; Gabbard & Krebs, 2012). The aim of this thesis was to examine the football governance landscape in the Republic of Ireland in relation to its ability to develop youth footballers, whilst exploring the contextual and lived experiences of these youth players as they developed within their respective talent development environments. This study employed a mixed method approach which involved quantitative and qualitative research data in a collection of studies. Study One, analysed and presented the demographics of those involved in the Football Association of Ireland’s primary talent development mechanism (n=1936), the Emerging Talent Programme (ETP). This study found a significant Relative Age Effect (RAE) and inequity of access to the ETP in relation to place of birth within the cohort. It also identified clear patterns of internal migration, with footballers moving towards the ‘core’ footballing development centre of Ireland (Dublin District Schoolboy League, DDSL). Study Two assessed the talent development practices of all authoritative bodies within Irish youth football with respect to organisational, governance, athletic, psycho-social, cultural and environmental issues. This study identified tensions and incongruence between strategic apex organisations resulting from Governing Body leadership, board composition, political dominance and perceptions of a lack of organisational justice. Structural and resource inequalities were identified in relation to finance, scouting networks, quality of coaching, facilities and player volume. Such incongruence combined with inequalities, led to concerns regarding youth development. Study Three provided a lived experience insight into the talent development pathway encountered by Irish footballers. This study followed five footballers who were on the Republic of Ireland under 15 international team, for a period of four years. This journey provided an insight into the impact that macro factors (identified in Study One and Study Two) had on the experiences of a developing footballer. Overall the thesis has provided an original contribution to the study of talent development in Irish football, providing a holistic analysis of the development pathway, its governance structures and the resulting lived experience of the pathway, utilising a bio-ecological approach.

Introduction

Positive Youth Development (PYD) is a framework used to design and guide programs and services for children and youth. PYD emphasizes the relationship between young people’s strengths and resources and their capacity to live healthy and productive lives. The underlying tenets of PYD suggest that healthy child and youth development is characterized by a sense of responsibility, connectedness, and positive values. Put into practice, key PYD strategies include identifying youth strengths, engaging and motivating young people to support positive growth through these strengths, working with youth as collaborators, and harnessing resources that exist in a young person’s environment. PYD advocates assert that common risk-oriented prevention and intervention frameworks fail to consider the idea that preventing a problem from occurring does not guarantee that youth are developing and growing in a healthy manner. Thus, from a PYD perspective healthy development is not simply the absence of problem behavior but it also includes the cultivation of resources and strengths within a child and her or his particular context. Ultimately, PYD suggests that young people who have mutually beneficial relationships with other people and institutions will enter adulthood as positive and successful contributors. In this sense, individuals and their respective social ecologies—peers, schools, families, and communities—are active contributors to the developmental process and promotion of well-being. Today, on-the-ground proponents of PYD are social workers and other individuals who advocate for policy change and funding for interventions and community-based services aimed at promoting healthy youth development. The grassroots efforts of advocates and interdisciplinary research efforts of scholars have also contributed greatly to a recent proliferation in PYD programs for children and youth. The PYD model has much to offer practitioners, community and program planners, and administrators seeking to develop or improve interventions and program services for children and youth. The positive focus on healthy child and adolescent development that the framework embodies has stimulated a rapid increase in PYD programs since the turn of the 21st century. More important, positive outcomes garnered from participants of PYD programs have now begun to support the utility of the model in real-world contexts. Yet as the field has grown, so have challenges in characterizing what constitutes a PYD program, organization, policy, or set of practices. In part, these definitional issues reflect the diverse disciplinary, philosophical, and theoretical roots of PYD as a framework for understanding developmental processes, informing direct practice with youth, and guiding program, organization, and policy development. PYD approaches are implemented in and out of school settings, as well as through traditional youth service organizations and youth activism agencies, and they have been studied by scholars in education, social work, sociology, and psychology. To address the definitional challenges that are common in a young, interdisciplinary field of study, this bibliography parallels the typological approach taken in widely cited national reports and systematic literature reviews. It includes broad array of research, practice, and policy efforts that are aligned with PYD approaches to youth programming. More specifically, the following qualitative criteria were used to select organizations, interventions, and programs for inclusion in this bibliography: (1) they primarily focus on improving positive developmental outcomes, and (2) they employ many of the following practice and programmatic approaches: provide consistent structure; create safe spaces to bond and build relationships; offer inclusive opportunities for identity development; convey high expectations and rewards for positive behavior; support youth involvement and self-determination; provide opportunities to learn interactively and apply useful skills; and integrate family, school, and community efforts.

This chapter examines the similarities and differences between those models or frameworks arising from the talent development literature with those traditionally associated with Positive Youth Development (PYD). It discusses the importance and relevance of integrating PYD outcomes in the development of talented athletes in tandem with the external roles of parents, coaches and practitioners. Finally, research recommendations propose with respect to how young athletes may gain the best of both worlds regarding pathways towards their personal and athletic development. Simonton defined talent as any innate capacity that enables an individual to display exceptionally high performance in a domain that requires special skills and training'. Positive youth development can be conceptualized as a holistic approach which looks to encourage thriving and development in young people by providing them with appropriate support and developmental opportunities. An inspection of the talent development literature does provide a somewhat similar outline of environmental features that are considered conducive to a positive talent development environment.

This article summarizes a much lengthier one that appeared in Prevention and Treatment. The earlier article grew out of a project initiated by the Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation. The Positive Youth Development Evaluation project described why policy makers, practitioners, and prevention scientists advocated a shift in approach for how youth issues are addressed in this country. The Positive Youth Development Evaluation project sought to define how youth development programs have been defined in the literature and then to locate, through a structured search, strong evaluations of these programs and summarize the outcomes of these evaluations. In the current article, we explain why prevention has shifted from a single problem focus to a focus on factors that affect both positive and problem youth development, describe what is meant by positive youth development, and summarize what we know about the effectiveness of positive youth develop...

This article summarizes a much lengthier one that appeared in Prevention and Treatment. The earlier article grew out of a project initiated by the Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation. The Positive Youth Development Evaluation project described why policy makers, practitioners, and prevention scientists advocated a shift in approach for how youth issues are addressed in this country. The Positive Youth Development Evaluation project sought to define how youth development programs have been defined in the literature and then to locate, through a structured search, strong evaluations of these programs and summarize the outcomes of these evaluations. In the current article, we explain why prevention has shifted from a single problem focus to a focus on factors that affect both positive and problem youth development, describe what is meant by positive youth development, and summarize what we know about the effectiveness of positive youth development programs.

The Role of Afterschool Settings in Positive Youth Development

Background: Adolescents are a vulnerable group who have great curiosity and need access to various adolescent health information. Therefore, the government has implemented a strategy through the implementation of Youth Care Health Services (YCHS). However, some of the stakeholders and youth have limited access to YCHS especially the ones delivered in schools setting. The purpose of this study was to investigate the implementation of adolescent health programs in schools especially public schools and religion-based schools.Design and methods: This study was an analytic observational quantitative study by using a cross-sectional design. This study was conducted in public schools and religion-based schools in North Surabaya Indonesia. The sample in this study consisted of 100 students through a simple random sampling technique.Results: There was a difference in the level of knowledge of adolescent reproductive health between public schools and religion- based schools (p=0.047). Student’s attitudes (p=0.000) and environmental influences (p=0.000) both related with reproductive health contents. However, there was no difference in adolescent’s attitudes about adolescent reproductive health programs (p=0.90) and adolescent’s exposure to adolescent reproductive health policies (p=0.196).Conclusion: The implementation of adolescent health programs in two types of schools (public and religion-based) were different. Adolescents should have the same rights to obtain knowledge about adolescent health as the prelude for forming a positive attitude. Therefore, stakeholders need to conduct regular monitoring and evaluation on the implementation of standardized adolescent health programs in all types of schools.Significance for public healthAdolescents are the nation's next-generation in which the rapid development of technology can cause various problems for their health especially reproductive health which is one of the major challenges for public health among adolescent. One of health programs conducted by stakeholder in Indonesia is YCHS. This program was designed to improve adolescent health through school approach. Nevertheless, there are some problems in the implementation such as unequal access to get information of adolescents health between public schools and religion based schools, the lack of stakeholders support, and the lack of students’ involvement in health adolescents programs. Through this study, we will find how the implementation and the effect of YCHS program regarding adolescents’ knowledge, attitudes, and the exposure about the policy of adolescent health. So, it can contributes to the public health.

A review of positive youth development programs that promote adolescent sexual and reproductive health.

Understanding and Facilitating the Youth Mentoring Movement

Talents emerge from general ability as a confluence of genetic dispositions, home and school experiences, and students' unique interests and learning styles. Gagné (1985) delineated a general pattern of talent development in youth, and other researchers (Bloom, 1985; Gagné, 1985; Keating, 1979; MacKinnon, 1978; Tannenbaum, 1983; Taylor, 1978; and Reis & Renzulli, 1986) have explicated the nature and development of talents. Our own model is represented in Figure 1. We see genetic factors as determining potential strengths and setting limits to the extent of talent development. Those who are likely to go on to high level talent development will exhibit precocity early on. Abilities, aptitudes, and intelligences emerge as a result of experiences, motivations, and styles. Creative insight skills (Davidson & Sternberg, 1984) a functional knowledge base (Glaser, 1984), and metacognitive creativity skills (Beyer, 1987) provide the final underpinning for the emergence of specific talents.