132 Annual Meeting Logo - Go to APHA Meeting Page  
APHA Logo - Go to APHA Home Page

Urban Truth Education Project: Developing educational materials regarding tobacco with African Americans teens

Darcy Saffar, MPH and Abby White. Faith Access to Community Economic Development/ The University of Michigan, 310 East Third Street Fifth Floor, Flint, MI 48502, 810-232-7733, dsaffar@umich.edu

As part of the Ruth Mott Health Scholars/Explorers Program, Faith Access to Community Economic Development (FACED) and the University of Michigan School of Public Health (UM-SPH) partnered to implement the Urban Truth education project. The goal of Urban Truth was to gather information on tobacco on both the general and African American populations and to create engaging educational materials for use in reaching the Flint, Michigan community. The Urban Truth team consisted of one UM-SPH graduate student (Ruth Mott Scholar) and four local high school students (Ruth Mott Explorers). The first two weeks of the program involved team building activities and training in college preparatory skills, public health, the health effects of tobacco, targeted advertising, and the special case of African Americans and tobacco. Duly armed, the team developed interactive presentations for church health team leaders and teens, an educational brochure, educational poster prototypes, and a poster on African Americans and tobacco (disseminated at the Tobacco-Free Michigan Conference). The team also imparted information during a twenty-minute radio interview on WFLT 1420. Six months post, three of the four Explorers are continuing to educate the African American Flint community through interactive presentations to youth and church congregations. Pre- and Post-tests have shown a development of interest in the areas of Public Health, issues surrounding tobacco, and the special problems for African Americans. The materials created will be further developed and distributed as the Explorers collaborate with four new high school students this summer.

Learning Objectives:

Keywords: African American, Adolescents

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.

Youth and Tobacco Poster Session I

The 132nd Annual Meeting (November 6-10, 2004) of APHA