Building school-based cardiovascular health promotion capacity in youth: a mixed methods study
Research article
1 Reproductive, Child and Youth Health Services and Policy Research, Faculty of Health Sciences, College of Nursing, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg R3T 2N2, MB, Canada
2 Faculty of Graduate Studies, Applied Health Sciences, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada
BMC Public Health 2015, 15:421Â
doi:10.1186/s12889-015-1759-5
Published: 25 April 2015
Abstract (provisional)
Background Essential to building cardiovascular health promotion capacity in youth,
which extends into adulthood, are approaches that seek to empower, educate, and support.
The Five Cs model of positive youth development (PYD) guided this study. This model
represents the ability of youth to develop competence, confidence, connection, character,
and caring when given the appropriate resources. The purpose of this two-year school-based
feasibility study was to determine if providing a research intervention in the form
of education, empowerment, and support build youth’s capacity for cardiovascular health
promotion. Methods A mixed methods case study design was used to evaluate the process,
and outcome of a youth-led cardiovascular health promotion program. Twenty-six youth
aged 12–13 years from a Canadian middle school took part in the study. Youth participating
in this study planned, implemented, and monitored cardiovascular health promotion
activities in four areas: smoking, physical inactivity, nutrition and obesity. Qualitative
data was collected from the youth participants using three focus groups and individual
reflective journals. Quantitative data was collected with the PYD.2, a self-report
questionnaire that assesses positive youth development and consists of 5 subscales:
character, competence, caring, connection, and confidence. The participants completed
the PYD before and after the program to determine if there were any changes in PYD
scores after the intervention. The quantitative data was analyzed using paired samples
t-tests, and the qualitative data was analyzed using constant comparative analysis.
Results While the PYD scores showed no significant changes, the qualitative findings
confirmed that the youth acquired increased awareness and understanding of cardiovascular
health promotion initiatives. Four themes emerged from the qualitative data, (1) doing
the right thing, (2) wanting to make a change, but feeling constrained, (3) I get
it, and (4) The project has changed me! The intervention was found to be acceptable
and feasible for the youth participants and their school. Conclusions The contributions
of this study were twofold. It generated evidence to support integrating positive
youth development strategies into cardiovascular health promotion programs. Secondly,
this study determined that the research intervention improved the participants’ knowledge
and attitudes about cardiovascular health and were suitable for further implementation
and testing.