The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA

Abstract #41768

Eric F. Chrisp, MA¹, Gilbert A. Quintero, PhD¹, Lisa Marr-Lyon, MEd, PhD¹, and Kathleen J. Young, PhD². (1) Department of Pediatrics Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, University of New Mexico, 2701 Frontier NE Ste. 251, Albuquerque, NM 87131, (2) Health Education and Promotion Department, University of New Mexico, Johnson Center Room 1155, Albuquerque, NM 87131, (505) 292-3704, echrisp@salud.unm.edu

This poster session will present a conceptual framework designed to guide the investigation of Youth Development & Empowerment based programs. A research team from the University of New Mexico Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention is conducting a process evaluation of youth driven tobacco control and prevention programs throughout the state of New Mexico. The conceptual framework presented here was developed collaboratively with stakeholders, both youth and adults, through a nominal group technique. It is serving as a road map to plan, implement, and analyze the process evaluation. Empowerment concepts such as those developed by Zimmerman (1995), Wallerstein (1992), Chinman and Linney (1998) Kim et. al (1998) also informed the conceptual framework. The research questions for the evaluation project include 1) What is youth empowerment; 2) How is Youth Empowerment conceptualized and enacted in New Mexico; 3) How is it contributing to public health efforts? The framework remains flexible enough to incorporate evolving ideas about empowerment and cultural and regional differences.

Learning Objectives: Participants in the session will be able to

• Apply this framework to their own program evaluations;
• Recognize the importance of including stakeholders–especially youth–in the evaluation planning process.
• Distinguish the differences between collaboration with youth stakeholders and State public health agency stakeholders.
• Conceptualize a broad, flexible approach to evaluating the complex social phenomena of empowerment.

Keywords: Evaluation, Participatory Research

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Disclosure not received
Relationship: Not Received.