Using the Internet for Health Promotion with Youth

Cameron D. Norman, PhD

Assistant ProfessorDalla Lana School of Public Health

Director of EvaluationPeter A. Silverman Global eHealth Program

Principal Investigator & Managing PartnerYouth Voices Research Group

What if?What if we could create opportunities to support young leaders in developing innovative strategies for transforming our social system to promote better health?

What if we could leverage the power of information technology to connect researchers, community-based programs, and the public together in a dialogue about health issues from around the world?

What if we could translate the knowledge gained from research to people who could use it in real time, wherever they are, using technologies that are free and widely available?

What if we could connect public health with the business sector and civil society leaders to develop models for addressing chronic disease prevention, food security, public safety & environmental health together?

What if we could make this model sustainable and adaptable to meet the public health challenges of thefuture?

What if?

And what if we could do it today?We can

Global Youth Voices

The Youth Voices Research Group

http://www.youthvoices.ca

Background

• The Youth Voices Research Group (YVRG), a research and social innovation unit based at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto

• Initially formed as the TeenNet Project by Harvey Skinner in 1995 with a focus on using new technologies to engage young people in health promotion

• In 2006, transformed into the Youth Voices Research Group under the direction of Cameron Norman

• Focus on developing accessible, responsive, and health promoting systems for youth and young adults.

• Use of ICT’s in context

• Evaluation

Youth Engagement Systematic Review

• Using Hart’s Ladder of participation

• Young people & adults share decision-making; Young people lead & initiate action; Adult-initiated, shared decisions with young people

• Youth taking on an active role (as leaders, decision-makers, planners, etc.) in a structured activity/project/program that has a focus outside of her/himself (i.e., connecting that young person to the outside world)

Emergence

Feedback

Dynamic

Networks

Adaptation

Diversity

Coordination

Creativity

Youth Voices Research Group

Health Literacy as a Foundation

• Training on the use of technologies for health promotion with health professionals

• Education and awareness with the public and health professionals about the importance of literacy in facilitating use of ICT’s for health

• eHealth Literacy Scale: Short assessment of skills and confidence in using ICT to make health decisions

• Norman & Skinner (2006) J Med Internet Res

Food4Health

A Youth Engagement Project to Support Food Systems Transformation & Population Health

Food4Health: Goals & Activities

• 10-week pilot project / proof-of-concept : February - April 2009

• To optimize current projects working in the area of youth engagement on issues related to food and health

• Evaluation & Networking

• To develop a platform for evaluation and coordination of multiple programs aimed at promoting health and wellbeing

• To form a strategy for creating and sustaining partnerships between public health and agrifood communities

• Blending online with offline strategies to engage youth in health promotion

Stomach this!

GRUB: Growing Reflections, Understanding Bites

http://www.tigweb.org/tiged/projects/grub/index.html

Food4Health : Student Life

Engagement Projectstudentlife-engagement.ning.com

Facebook

Science Communication

Disaster Planning & Response

Chronic Disease Prevention & Management

Global Health

Research Coordination

Student Engagement

Youth Voices Research GroupDalla Lana School of Public Health

www.youthvoices.ca www.food4health.ca

• Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto 416.978.1242

• cameron.norman@utoronto.ca

• @cdnorman

• censemaking.wordpress.org

• www.youthvoices.ca / www.publicehealth.org

• http://www.youtube.com/user/YouthVoicesResearch

CONTACT: Cameron Norman, PhD