Promoting Youth Participation Research Articles

Youth Participation in Peacebuilding in Somalia: Challenges and Opportunities

This study focuses on the analysis of the challenges and opportunities of youth participation in peacebuilding in Somalia. The main objectives of the study were: to analyse the challenges of youth participation in peacebuilding related to the power dimensions of levels and spaces in Banadir region, Somalia and to explore the opportunities of youth participation in peacebuilding related to the power dimensions of levels and spaces in Somalia. The researcher used a qualitative approach of research to collect and analyse secondary data. The secondary data was collected through documentary review of books, articles, journals, reports that involved visiting the libraries and internet for the analysis of important documents in the search for topic issues. The information gathered from secondary data was resourceful in preparing the study and giving the research a more defined perspective. The secondary data were edited to check the accuracy, consistency and completeness of the information. The main findings of the study were that that the challenges hindering youth participation in Somalia include: poverty, lack of access to quality basic services like education, lack opportunities for youth to participate in peacebuilding, rigid culture, corruption, weak governance, prevalence of violence and insecurity and lack of resources and funding. And the key opportunities available for youth to participate in peacebuilding entail: increase youth opportunities for employment with entrepreneurship, market-focused, and public-private efforts, increase youth access to and use of high-quality education, increase youth engagement in community and government, conduct nation-wide campaign awareness on youth participation in peacebuilding and open space for youth to be leaders in the public sphere to strengthen the rule of law. The study recommended that the Federal Government of Somalia should promote, promote positive change to steer youth participation in peacebuilding, put in place mechanisms that engage youth in a collaborative fashion at all stages, include conflict analysis modules in the curriculum at appropriate levels, make education inclusive of all minority groups, including those people with disabilities, maintain contact with the trained youth facilitators, ensure that education is both inclusive and relevant to local needs and dedicate funding streams for peacebuilding in order to promote youth participation in peacebuilding in Somalia

'Is there value for us in agriculture?' A case study of youth participation in agricultural value chains in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

Developing countries in Africa face an unemployment crisis, with many unemployed youth. Agriculture has been identified as a strategic sector for employment creation targeted at youth, including those who may not have agriculture-related qualifications. However, various challenges limit the effectiveness of youth participation in the agriculture value chain. The study aimed to (i) determine youth awareness of agricultural value-chain opportunities, (ii) determine their perception of their role in the value chain, (iii) determine their perception of agricultural programs targeting youth and their opinions on who is responsible for attracting youth into agriculture and, (iv) to characterise the dynamics of youth empowerment in agriculture. Data was collected using focus group discussions and an online survey and analysed using SPSS and NVivo. Poor knowledge, low levels of awareness of agricultural value-chain activities and careers, and not meeting the minimum requirements for employment in processing and retail businesses were identified as key challenges. Most youth were interested in non-primary activities such as agro-processing, which are less labour-intensive and have a quicker return on investment than agricultural production. However, support services and programs for promoting youth participation in agriculture mainly focus on primary activities, signifying a mismatch between youth aspirations and current support. Understanding youth aspirations, perceptions and dynamics underpinning youth empowerment and participation in value chains is critical for promoting participation and formulating relevant and responsive policies. Additionally, improving access to information and building awareness of agricultural value chains is crucial in reducing barriers to entry. Policymakers should integrate agriculture and food systems knowledge into the primary education curriculum to promote youth awareness and evoke interest in agri-food system careers at an early age.

Creating conditions that encourage youth engagement in family child welfare case planning meetings: A youth perspective

Youth in foster care are often excluded from participating in planning for their permanent homes and making other decisions about their lives. In the past decade, there has been an increasing call for laws, policies, and practices that ensure a youth’s right to participation in child welfare and other youth-serving systems. Child welfare, which is often associated with trauma, lack of power, and other disadvantages for involved families, is a complicated context for engaging youth in the processes intended to protect them. From the motivational perspective of Self-Determination Theory (SDT), child welfare workers can understand promoting engagement as creating conditions that meet a youth’s basic psychological needs. The current study used SDT as a framework to analyze in-depth interviews with youth about their experiences with family case planning meetings. Findings explain why different family meeting practices promoted or undermined youth engagement by creating certain contextual conditions (warm/caring, structured/predictable, and supportive of genuine preferences). Some family meeting practices functioned differently in promoting youth engagement depending on the extent to which youth experienced their needs being met. SDT offers both a way to understand casework practices in terms of the conditions they create, and a framework for reflecting on why certain practices operate in different ways for different youth. Workers who understand that engagement stems from meeting individual needs will be better able to promote youth participation in family meetings and their well-being.

Thematic evidencing of youth-empowering interventions in livestock production systems in Sub-Sahara Africa: a systematic review

Five to seven in every 10 people in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) are youths. They have significantly low employment rates but are unattracted to agriculture. Recently, the sector has witnessed considerable efforts by African governments to promote youth participation. While these efforts have started to bear fruits, salient gender issues remain hard to address and solve promptly. For example, youth empowerment issues—whether mutual or emancipative, asset ownership, taboos and cultural expectations, perceptions against climate change, and use of technology and ICT significantly influence livestock production among pastoralists and agro-pastoralists. While these problems are partly known and being solved, it is to be understood the extent and the salient gender issues that drive youth participation in livestock production. To understand this, we conducted a systematic review using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines to thematically synthesize and evidence the youth-empowering interventions in livestock production systems in Sub-Sahara Africa. Peer-reviewed studies were retrieved from online databases (Scopus, Google ScholarTM, and gray literature). The findings show that youth face significant barriers to participating in livestock systems ranging from limited empowerment, limited access to productive assets and land, social-cultural limitations and inadequate youth-focused policy implementation. Despite the hurdles, youths, and other actors are employing various mechanisms to overcome them and enhance their participation in livestock systems. They utilize self-driven approaches such as gifting animals amongst themselves, forming saving groups commonly referred to as merry-go-rounds and belonging to community group formations as a form of social capital to empower themselves mutually. Education is also an empowerment tool for youths in the livestock sector. Emancipative empowerment through participation in political and community-level leadership is taking shape, though still in its infancy. There are opportunities presented by small ruminants and poultry where women and youths are getting a voice in the community by becoming relatively income independent and desisting from waiting for the inheritance of large livestock and assets from men. Opportunities presented by ICT in the field of livestock have been taken advantage of through the use of various apps and internet tools to enhance youth participation in livestock systems.

Utilization of online systems to promote youth participation in research: A methodological study.

Online surveys can align with youth's increased use of the internet and can be a mechanism for expanding youth participation in research. This is particularly important during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, when in-person interactions are limited. However, the advantages and drawbacks of online systems used for research need to be carefully considered before utilizing such methodologies. To describe and discuss the strengths and limitations of an online system developed to recruit adolescent girls for a sexual health research study and conduct a three-month follow up survey. This methodology paper examines the use of an online system to recruit and follow participants three months after their medical visit to evaluate a mobile sexual and reproductive health application, Health-E You/Salud iTuTM, for adolescent girls attending school-based health centers (SBHCs) across the United States. SBHC staff gave adolescent girls a web link to an online eligibility and consent survey. Participants were then asked to complete two online surveys (baseline and 3-month follow-up). Surveys, reminders, and incentives to complete them were distributed through short message service (SMS) text messages. Upon completing each survey, participants were also sent an email with a link to an electronic gift card as a thank-you for their participation. Barriers to implementing this system were discussed with clinicians and staff at each participating SBHC. This online recruitment and retention system enabled participant recruitment at 26 different SBHCs in seven states across the United States. Between September 2021 and June 2022, 415 adolescent girls were screened using the Qualtrics online survey platform, and 182 were eligible to participate. Of those eligible, 78.0% (n = 142) completed the baseline survey. Participants were racially, geographically, and linguistically diverse. Most of the participants (89.4%) were non-White, and 40.8% spoke Spanish. A total of 62.0% (n = 88) completed the 3-month follow-up survey. Limitations of this system included reliance on internet access (via Wi-Fi or cell service), which was not universally available or reliable. In addition, an individual unrelated to the study obtained the survey link, filled out multiple surveys, and received multiple gift cards before the research team discovered and stopped this activity. As a result, additional security protocols were instituted. Online systems for health research can increase the reach and diversity of study participants, reduce costs for research personnel time and travel, allow for continued study operation when in-person visits are limited (such as during the COVID-19 pandemic), and connect youth with research using technology. However, there are challenges and limitations to online systems, which include limited internet access, intermittent internet connection, data security concerns, and the potential for fraudulent users. These challenges should be considered prior to using online systems for research.

Strategies toward Greater Youth Participation in Jordan’s Urban Policymaking

Seventy percent of the population in Jordan is young and urban. A plethora of research demonstrated that collaborative urban policymaking would positively impact youth’s physiological and physical welfare as well as the quality of urban planning. Nevertheless, youth participation in Jordan’s urban planning is fragile, limited, and sporadic. Youth marginalization from urban policymaking would deter sustainable urban development. Therefore, this article examines the most convenient strategy to promote the inclusion of young Jordanians in the planning practice to be fully-fledged members of society. The fuzzy Delphi method (FDM) was employed to mathematically analyze the level of importance of each suggested strategy based on the opinions of eight experts with long experience in promoting youth participation in Jordan’s public policy. Research results reveal that adopting cutting-edge communication technology is the most suitable strategy to genuinely recognize youth input, opinions, and experience in urban policymaking.

Financial Management Skills and Utilization of Youth Enterprise Development Fund among Youth Groups in Baringo South Constituency, Kenya

The Youth Enterprise Development Fund (YEDF) was introduced in 2006 as a strategy to broaden economic opportunities and promote youth participation in nation building. The effective utilization of the fund is vital if its objective of empowering young people through entrepreneurship. This study aimed to evaluate the correlation between financial management skills and the utilization of business development fund among youth groups in Baringo South Constituency. The study specifically sought to determine the relationship between investment decision making process, financial record management, saving behavior and cash flow management and the utilization of the YEDF in Baringo South Constituency, Baringo County, Kenya. Financial self-efficacy theory, goal setting theory, contingency theory and information asymmetry theory formed theoretical basis for this research. Researched entities was 22 YEDF-funded MSEs in Baringo South Constituency's. The study’s sample size was made up of 88 group officials, four fund managers and three youth fund officials. Questionnaires were used in the collection of primary data. Prior to the study, a pilot was conducted in Koibatek to test data gathering devices. Research data was collected qualitatively and quantitatively. Data was presented using tables and charts. The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) was used in the quantitative statistical analysis. The mean, standard deviation, frequencies, and percentages are used in descriptive. The study established a positive and significant relationship between the three independent variables: investment decision making, financial record management and saving behavior, and YEDF utilization among youth groups in Baringo South Constituency, Kenya. The study found a weak positive and significant relationship between cash flow management and YEDF utilization among youth groups in Baringo South Constituency, Kenya. The study recommended that entrepreneurial training for youth enterprises, and distinct saving accounts to assist youth groups organize their finances. It also emphasized on the importance of cash flow statements to help investors and shareholders understand how much money group is producing and spending. The study suggested that further studies should be conducted on financial management skills and use of government financial kits such Uwezo funds, Women Enterprise Development funds should be conducted. Keywords: Financial management skills, investment decision, financial records, saving behavior, cash flow, fund utilization.

Youth participation in traditional cultural practices in contemporary Tumu: An exposé on the Ceremonial Costume Art of Fuowie Nasolo, a youth cultural iconic figure in Tumu

Youth participation in traditional cultural practices in contemporary Africa (Ghana) has been on the decline due to the alarming rate at which African youth assimilate foreign cultures. Many African (Ghanaian) youth nowadays mock African (Ghanaian) ethnic cultures in favour of Western cultures. However, previous research suggests youth cultural activism in Tumu, Ghana. This positive development has the tendency to preserve and promote the cultural identity of Tumu. This study, therefore, sought to establish the motivation behind youth participation in traditional cultural practices in contemporary Tumu with a specific focus on the costume art of Fuowie Nasolo, a youth cultural iconic figure in Tumu. Qualitative descriptive analysis of interview transcripts and photographic data gathered from twenty-five (25) heterogenous-purposively sampled informants reveal that youth cultural activism in contemporary Tumu is engendered by the sustained cultural tutelage provided by the elders of Tumu. Additionally, it was emphasised that youth cultural participation in contemporary Tumu is extrinsically motivated by the admirable cultural activism of Fuowie, the unifying leader of Tumu youth cultural group. A cursory study of the cultural manifestations of Fuowie’s ceremonial costume art, reveals the royal, heroic, and wardress culture of the indigenes of Tumu. Since Fuowie’s cultural activism significantly complements the effort of Tumu elders in promoting youth cultural participation, the study calls for sustained collaboration between Fuowie and the elders of Tumu to massively promote youth participation in traditional cultural activities for cultural preservation, cultural restoration, and the construction of authentic cultural identity of the people of Tumu for posterity.

The child-friendly cities concept in China: A prototype case study of a migrant workers’ community

The United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) initiatives of Child-Friendly Cities have operated in more than 3000 cities around the world. However, the concept of making the city child-friendly has not been extensively recognized in China. This article aims to report a regeneration project in a migrant workers’ community, the Mingdong, and is used to illustrate the reactions of residents to youth participation (youth civic engagement) and the project through an international workshop. The article concludes with a discussion of how social workers help in the social development of migrant communities by promoting youth participation, community social awareness and social cohesiveness.

Corporate Governance Innovations for Enhancing Youth Participation and Job Creation in the Agri-Food System in Africa

This paper explores the role of corporate governance innovations in promoting youth participation and job creation in agri-food systems in Africa. The paper examines corporate governance innovations that can enhance the involvement of young people in agriculture and agribusiness, and the development of sustainable food systems. The paper highlights the challenges that African youth face in accessing employment opportunities in the agri-food sector and identifies the need for innovative governance strategies to enhance youth participation. The paper identifies five key governance innovations that can contribute to enhancing youth participation and job creation, including public-private partnerships, community-based organizations, capacity-building programs, policy reforms, and technology adoption. The paper concludes that by adopting these innovations, African governments, youth in Africa and corporations can help to promote sustainable economic growth and reduce youth unemployment in the agri-food sector.

Перспективные пути и способы содействия участию молодежи в волонтерской деятельности в контексте реализации государственной молодежной политики в Российской Федерации

Introduction. The article discusses promising ways and means of promoting youth participation in volunteering in the context of the implementation of the state youth policy in the Russian Federation, it is indicated that the state policy on volunteerism is characterized by inconsistency with the position of young people themselves regarding volunteering and its priorities. The experience of organizing the volunteer movement in Russia and foreign countries indicates that voluntary activity can be most effectively implemented within the framework of institutional structures. Methods. The research uses an analytical approach, as well as methods of comparison and abstraction. The research also relies on the phenomenological method. Results. The authors note that the state policy aimed at promoting the participation of young people in volunteer activities should include, as an integral component, the allocation of various grants and state subsidies to relevant nonprofit organizations, along with an increase in funding for volunteerism development programs.

Exploring the Role of Digital and Socio-civic Skills for Promoting Youth Participation and Digital Citizenship

<p style="text-align: justify;">The emergence of digital technologies and a more global and digital society has brought about the need to develop and educate in Digital Citizenship, as well as to study how youth are taught to participate and learn citizenship in a digital age. This paper aims to explore the role of digital and socio-civic skills development, as facilitators for youth participation and analyses the relationship between sociodemographic variables (sex, age, educational level, and political ideology) with the participatory profile of participants. This is a study with a quantitative methodology, where, based on non-probabilistic convenience sampling, 534 young people between 16 and 35 years old from Spain, completed an online questionnaire regarding the development of digital and socio-civic skills. The results indicate how a participant’s participatory profile is related to other variables. In addition, significant differences are observed between the different participation profiles and digital and socio-civic skills, underlining that the development of digital and socio-civic skills are essential for educating in digital citizenship.</p>

How youth participation and practice in global education initiatives are enacted in discourse

The GENE Global Education Innovation Award aims to reward and support organizations whose goal is to provide innovative Global Education, valuing youth participation in democratic processes. Toward that end, funders are sensitive to whether and how organizations support youth participation and civic engagement. Funding applications, thus, become a way for organizations to enact their own values and strategies for promoting youth participation. This paper reports on a secondary analysis of applications to GENE, revealing an emphasis on participatory practices. The data includes 82 excerpts across eight applications awarded funding and 13 applications honoured as runners-up. Using values analysis, we explored how organizations described engaging participants and the importance of participants’ activities as forwarding the organization's purpose. Analysis uncovered three major values: Perspective on Participation; Rhetoric of Participation; and Agents of Participation. While all applicants shared similar values of youth participation in their organizations, how they expressed the importance of their participants differed. Ultimately, Awardees emphasized what their organization could do for participants, whereas the Runners Up focused on what their participants were doing through their engagement. The findings exhibit how participation and practice in Global Education initiatives are enacted in discourse.

The Role of Civil Society Organizations and Political Participation of Youth in Pakistan

The focus of this study is to analyses the role of civil society in promoting youth participation in the political process. The methodology of the study includes a review of the existing stock of literature on youth participation in politics and the role of CSOs in the promotion of youth participation in politics, followed by collecting and analyzing primary data from 200 Islamabad based university students aged 18-29, and interview from 10 members of CSOs working in Pakistan. CSOs lack financial independence and sustainability, their dependency on government rules, regulations, CSOs engaged in by arranging workshops,seminars, social gatherings, public speeches, and publish reports on it. The study concludes that CSOs play a limited role in promoting and enhancing youth political participation.

The Influence of Social Capital on Youths' Anti-Epidemic Action in the Field of Epidemic-Preventative Social Distancing in China.

Social distancing restrictions for COVID-19 epidemic prevention have substantially changed the field of youths’ social activities. Many studies have focused on the impact of epidemic-preventative social distancing on individual physical and mental health. However, in the field of social distancing for epidemic prevention, what are the changes in youth anti-epidemic action and states caused by their interpersonal resources and interactions? Responding to this question by studying the impact of the elements of social capital in youths’ anti-epidemic actions and anti-epidemic states could help identify an effective mechanism for balancing social distancing for effective epidemic prevention and sustainable social-participation development among youth. Bourdieu’s field theory holds that the elements of social capital change with a change in the field. Therefore, we introduced the specific elements of social capital as independent variables and used a multinomal logistic model to analyze and predict the levels of youth anti-epidemic action through an empirical investigation of 1043 young people in Guangdong Province, China. The results show that, first, level of social distancing for epidemic prevention shows differences by occupation status and income level and correlates with social support. Second, social support and social norms play positive roles in promoting youth participation in anti-epidemic activities when social distance is certain. Third, social capital has a significant positive effect on youth social satisfaction and core relationships; however, social trust has a significant negative effect on youth physical and mental health. This study emphasized that social distancing for epidemic prevention is a special social situational state, which is a field where social capital has an impact on the differential changes in the public-participating actions and habitus of youth.

On the landscape of youth participation in science policy

Despite being important policy stakeholders, the youth remain largely absent from policy building and implementation. However, the growing literature has vividly illustrated the capacity of the youth from diverse age groups to make meaningful contributions to policy. In particular, university students are emerging as significant actors in science policy owing to their unique perspectives and knowledge. By drawing from the literature, we emphasize that the youth are capable of directly contributing to diverse policy matters while also indirectly benefiting from their participation. Consequently, there is a crucial need for initiating programs for promoting youth participation. Furthermore, to ensure the fruitfulness of such programs, more systematic research ought to be done with regards to the accomplishments and challenges of youth participation.

Effect of utilization of social media platforms on youth participation in agriculture in Njoro sub-county, Kenya

Most of rural people, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa, depend on agriculture for their livelihoods. In Kenya, rural households who are mainly smallholder farmers rely on agriculture for most of their income. The agriculture sector plays an important role in employment creation. However, the sector is reportedly dominated by the elderly people while youths tend to shy away. These youths are actively involved on social media platforms hence social media have been used to promote their participation in agriculture. However, how utilization of such social media platforms affected their participation in agriculture was not yet known in Njoro Sub-county. This study focused on the effect of utilization of social media platforms on youth participation in agriculture in Njoro Sub-county. A descriptive survey research design was used with a target population of 3,925 and accessible population of 1,597 youth involved in agriculture in Njoro, Kihingo, and Lare wards. A random sampling technique was used to select 150 respondents. A questionnaire was used to collect data. SPSS version 22 and STATA version 12 was used to analyze data. The results revealed Facebook, Google search engine, and WhatsApp as the top three highly used social media platforms amongst the youth in agriculture in Njoro Sub-county. Besides, Facebook had highest 22 % respondents using it very often, 18% often, 14.7% sometimes and 6.7% rarely. Moreover, the results showed that the level of utilization of social media platforms had a significant effect (p=0.001) on youth participation in agriculture at a 5% level. WhatsApp had a positive effect (p=0.039) on youth participation in agriculture at a 5 % level. The study recommended that government and other potential stakeholders should invest in digital extension services to promote youth participation in agriculture. More youth participation would significantly reduce unemployment.

Tailoring youth-friendly health services in Nigeria: a mixed-methods analysis of a designathon approach

ABSTRACT Background Young people in low- and middle-income countries are often neglected in designing youth-friendly health services, especially HIV testing and preventive services. Designathons, which are time-bounded co-creation events where individuals gather in teams to develop solutions to a problem, could promote youth participation and ownership of health services. Objective The purpose of this study is to examine youth participation in a designathon to create youth-friendly health services in Nigeria. Methods Our designathon was based on crowdsourcing principles and informed by a human-centered design approach. The designathon included an open call for Nigerian youths between 14 and 24 years to share ideas on how to promote uptake of HIV self-testing services and a three-day sprint event that brought together diverse teams to develop strategies enhancing linkage to care. Teams pitched their solutions to a panel of five independent experts who scored ideas based on the desirability, feasibility, potential impact, and teamwork. We used descriptive statistics to summarize participants’ demographics and conducted a content analysis to synthesize themes from youth proposals. Results Nine hundred seventy-six youth across Nigeria applied to join the designathon. Forty-eight youth in 13 teams participated in the designathon with a median age of 20 years (IQR: 17–22]. Boys and young men were 48.5% (446/919) of the total applicants, 62.5% (30/48) of the designathon participants, and 63.6% (7/11) of the finalists. Students, from all educational levels, represented 91.2% (841/922) of the total applicants, 88.4% (38/43) of the designathon participants, and 90.0% (9/10) of the finalists. About twenty-three percent (3/13) of the final proposals were top ranked. The three finalist approaches to optimize youth-friendly health services centered on decentralizing service delivery to young people through mobile health technologies, use of mobile tents, or peer support services. Conclusions Our open call engaged diverse groups of Nigerian youth, including young women and students. Our data suggest that designathons may be useful for developing tailored youth-friendly health services. Further research is needed to understand the designathon process and the effectiveness of the finalist submissions.

A study of factors affecting the physical activity of youth: analysis of data from the 13th youth health behavior online survey in 2017.

This study was intended to provide basic data to promote youth participation in physical activity by determining the factors that affect the physical activities of Korean youth. To achieve the purpose of this study, data obtained from the 13th Youth Health Behavior Online Survey in 2017 was used as raw data and data on 62,276 youths were analyzed by frequency analysis, chi-square test, and logistic regression analysis using IBM SPSS Statistics ver. 22.0. The results suggested gender (P<0.001), school grade (P<0.001), and residential type (P<0.001) in general characteristics; subjective health status (P<0.001), stress perception (P<0.001), and sleep satisfaction (P<0.001); and finally drinking experience (P<0.004), smoking experience (P<0.009), and skipping breakfast in the morning (P<0.009) as factors affecting Korean youth’s participation in physical activity. These results indicate that: male students participated in physical activities more than female students, and middle school students participated in physical activities more than high school students; students with a higher economic status and academic performance participated more in physical activities; and students with higher subjective health status, higher happiness, and higher sleep satisfaction, students who did not drink or smoke, and students who had breakfast participated more in physical activities.

Supporting the participation of youth with physical disabilities: Parents' strategies

Introduction Little is known about strategies used by parents to explicitly promote the participation in meaningful occupations of transition-age youth. This descriptive study explored the type and scope of parents' strategies to facilitate the participation of youth living with a physical disability. Methods Twenty-two parents of youths (12 to 18 years) with mobility restriction reported strategies used at home, school, and in the community by completing the Participation and Environment Measure for Children and Youth at two time points. Content analysis was conducted. Strategies were extracted and coded, and sub-categories were identified and organised into the three domains (person, occupation, environment) of the Canadian Model of Occupational Performance – Engagement. Findings Overall, 241 strategies were reported, of which 130 were distinct. The strategies encompassed all three domains of the Canadian Model of Occupational Performance – Engagement, with an emphasis on youths' immediate physical environment and no reference to institutional policies at the macro level. The majority of strategies focused on facilitating youths' participation in the school setting through collaboration, advocacy, and involvement. Conclusion Findings can increase our understanding of the range of actions parents take in supporting participation of transition-age youth. Occupational therapists can build on those strategies and, through family-centred practice, jointly promote youth participation and inclusion.