Back to Annual Meeting

Back to Annual Meeting

APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Jeni Jones, BA¹, Cely Argueta, MPA¹, Susanna Nemes, PhD², Armando Hernandez, BA¹, Kelly Munly, MA¹, Y. Henry Wong, PhD¹, and Salvatore Libretto, PhD¹. (1) Public Health Group, Danya International, Inc., 8737 Colesville Road, Suite 1100, Silver Spring, MD 20910, 301-565-2142, jjones@danya.com, (2) Social Solutions, International, Inc., 18303 Wickham Road, Olney, MD 20832

Working youth are at a greater risk for substance use and other health problems than their nonworking counterparts. Youth who work because they have dropped out of school are an underserved population for prevention services. The workplace presents a significant opportunity to develop a pathway for prevention and wellness education and is virtually an untapped resource for conducting health promotion and disease prevention with youth. Funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, Danya International, Inc has developed a worksite prevention program for workers ages 16-24 who are at risk for substance abuse and other risky behaviors. The program addresses numerous topics, including smoking, alcohol and drug abuse, STDs/HIV, pregnancy, weight, anger and stress, violence, diversity, sexual harassment, and job success. This product provides employers with an easy-to-use package that will deliver both health-related information and skills training to employees. The components of this program include a facilitator's guide, an instructional DVD, and auxiliary materials (e.g., posters and fact sheets) developed in English and Spanish. Using this worksite wellness program, employers can work to improve the health of their employees and save money typically lost to decreased productivity and absenteeism. This presentation will include the results of a needs assessment with employers, focus groups with young workers and employers to test content and acceptibility of the topics, a focus group with young workers to elicit feedback on printed materials, a pilot study of the spanish-langauge version of the program, and a case study evaluation of program implementation at two worksites.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, the participant (learner) in this session will be able to

• Recognize the risks adolescent dropouts and youths who work can face especially with substance abuse problems, weight issues, STDs, and HIV.
• Identify the need for and effectiveness of workplace heath promotion programs for young workers.
• Describe the process involved in developing effective health promotion materials for both employers and employees in a youth-based worksite program.

Keywords: Health Education, Youth at Work

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Not Answered

Handout (.pdf format, 1800.7 kb)