Teen Advocates for a Healthy KCK

Young Women on the Move's (YWOM) Teen Advocates for a Healthy KCK health promotions campaign is designed to educate, inspire, and equip adolescent girls to advocate for their health and the health of their community. The campaign is based on a challenge-based learning model that engages youth in pursuit of answers to a driving question. The driving question of 2015: Why is Wyandotte County ranked near the bottom of all Kansas counties for the health of its citizens? YWOM high school members researched the issue and designed a targeted health promotions campaign named NuMoves in February 2015. The W. K. Kellogg Foundation's health promotions campaign model served as a guide. The campaign uses social media to reach friends, peers, and families.

In addition to the social media campaign, YWOM high school members received training to mentor middle school members in eight weekly after-school programs. The high school peer health mentors then assisted wellness instructors from Shawnee Mission Health in delivery of workshops in Creation Health, a holistic health and wellness program designed by Florida Health, a member of the Adventist Health System. The eight principles of Creation Health are choice, rest, environment, activity, trust, interpersonal relationships, outlook, and nutrition. These principles are recognized as contributors to the health and longevity of many Adventists.

YWOM high school members engaged in advocacy for community health by participating in a farmers' market research project funded by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE). Eight YWOM members mapped all four Wyandotte County farmers' markets using an urban planning mapping tool provided by KDHE. They analyzed the condition of neighborhoods surrounding the markets to determine safety and accessibility by wheelchair or walking, and shoppers' use of Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) cards. They shared these reports with the Unified Government's Healthy Communities Wyandotte staff and the director of the Wyandotte County Farmers Market Cooperative.

Teen Advocates for a Healthy KCK supports the overall goals of Young Women on the Move (YWOM) which provides empowerment and life skills coaching for adolescent girls in all eight middle schools and five high schools in the Kansas City, KS public school district. Girls are invited to participate in YWOM as early as 6th grade. Many continue membership through their senior year. The challenge-based learning initiative supports learning in critical thinking, decision-making, and other life skills and reinforces knowledge through the learn-teach-learn model of peer mentoring.

The goal of Young Women on the Move is to help girls gain the knowledge, skills and personal power to become change agents in their lives and their communities. The mission of Teen Advocates for a Healthy KCK is to empower underserved, at-risk adolescent girls to live healthy lives filled with positive options with the vision that girls, when healthy in mind, body and spirit, will be strong leaders and advocates for thriving, healthy families and communities.

Teen Advocates for a Healthy KCK helped girls discover their personal power and develop skills and behaviors that led to healthier lifestyle choices.

Twenty YWOM high school girls participated in a year-long, challenge-based learning project designed to impact the health behaviors of youth and families in Wyandotte County. The health promotions campaign, which was named NuMoves, included video, social media, print stories, and peer health mentoring.

Twenty YWOM high school girls set personal goals to improve their health with goals based on the eight Creation Health principles of healthy choices, rest, environment, physical activity, trust, interpersonal relationships, positive outlook, and nutrition.

Eight YWOM high school girls served as peer health mentors to 35 girls attending YWOM's after-school programs at 8 middle schools.

Eight YWOM high school girls participated in a research and advocacy project designed to analyze the safety and accessibility of all four Wyandotte County Farmers' Markets.

Twenty YWOM high school girls participated in Creation Health workshops to learn principles of adolescent health and wellness. Outcomes measured include quantitative pre- and post-data: a.) height, weight, BMI, blood pressure, b.) health behavior surveys, and c.) qualitative data including essays on lessons learned and personal change efforts.

Year-end analysis of outcomes is incomplete at this time. Results based on anecdotal data include:
1. Girls shared preventive health tips with their families. One girl was successful in getting her diabetic parents to reduce sodium in their diets by learning to read food labels at the grocery store.
2. A majority of girls reported few, if any, occasions their families share meals together. One girl reported her success in preparing healthy meals for her family and enjoying meal time together.
3. Several girls reported change in habits that contributed to their high stress levels, including sleep deprivation.
4. All girls demonstrated a greater awareness of the environmental factors contributing to food insecurity. They observed the high number of fast food restaurants versus the inadequate number of grocery stores. They gained perspective on the community's high rate of food insecurity by volunteering at a local food distribution center.