3) Program Mission Statement, Goals, and Objectives
4) Logic Model
5) Description of program strategies, brief description of rationale/support for interventions selected, and level of influence targeted with each strategy
6) Process Evaluation Plan (Methods, and Measures)
7) blog or podcast
Reflection on program name and description
My program name was actually one of the most difficult items for me. It requires a lot of thought because it is the first item people see and it is my first chance to make an impression on the audience. A program or company name can either bring in an audience or cause people to reject a program and the name is where decision makers are able to view your agenda and either move ahead or reject a plan.
Reflection on Program Rationale
A program rationale is the item that “gains support from decision makers” or “sells” the program (McKenzie et. al., 2017). The rationale needs to have “benefits of the program” clearly communicated so decision makers are getting their needs addressed (McKenzie et. al., 2017). When my peers reviewed my first outline of my rationale, they both commented on the section of why my program would be successful for the decision makers. It was then I decided I needed to show the audience how important this program is for teens. It allowed me to get into a subject of grades and performance of students which was the real “why” to being healthier. I appreciate the teacher and student feedback.
Reflection on Mission Statement, Goals, and Objectives
My mission statement seemed to be the easiest part of this. I also had an easier time with objectives. I wrote my first set of goals from my perspective until I received feedback on why they needed to be written using SMART and what my program will achieve. Your feedback on goals “you’re off to a good start here. Remember that your goals should be program focused. In other words, what will your program do for participants?” made me realize I was attacking the problem from the wrong direction and helped me turn the ship around.
Reflection on Logic Model
This was my easiest section. I honestly feel like my thinking is very logical being a mathematician. I enjoyed reading feedback on wording etc., however I felt this was a section I had done well and very easily. It helped me build a foundation for my program and was a very important piece of the puzzle of starting a focused and relevant program.
Reflection on description of program strategies, brief description of rationale/support for interventions selected, and level of influence targeted with each strategy
Reflecting back on this section my one realization was that everything I used as an intervention needed to be grounded in science. We needed to have the appropriate program intervention and show proof that it has worked in the past for other programs similar to mine. It was challenging to make sure all of my interventions were backed by data. I worked on this section for a long time and through many modifications feel like I reached the goal.
Reflection on process Evaluation Plan (Methods, and Measures)
I started out this section trying to better understand the terms. Environmental component, training component, curriculum component, Fidelity, Dose Delivered, Dose Received, Reach and Context. All new terms. I used my book to research each one and figure out how my project fit into these terms or vice versa. It was a very analytical process and one that really helped me ground my ideas to move forward on the program.
Reflection on Blog
My blog was one of my first blogs I have written. I have never put the time and attention to the structure of the blog until this program. I appreciate the information we received on how to write a blog and I am proud of how much structure I was able to put into the writing using research and a having a plan. This is the most important part of my takeaway and I know now that writing a blog takes time and patience and to make sure you have all of the criteria prior to publishing it.
Strategy 1 Nutrition Education and Motivational Interviewing
Strategy 2 University of Minnesota Extension program
Strategy 3 Social Cognitive Theory
Strategy 4. Social Media
Strategy #1
Below is an outline of some of the science theories I will use in my program. They have been my influence to design a program that will be effective for teens to help them change behaviors. Adolescent years are formative years. Social Cognitive theory is very effective for teenagers and behavior change. (Bagherniya, et. al., 2018) In addition, I think SCT is the best tool for increasing self-efficacy of teens. Healthy teens is a program that uses self-efficacy at the core of its program and therefore the use of SCT, social learning from peers and role models on social media is the best and most effective way to enhance behavior change in a positive way.
Summary of Theories and Strategies
Activity: Motivational Interviewing
Strategy: Find out current needs and attitudes towards change. Strategy – Motivational Interviews
We will recruit 30 teenagers from Mercer Island High Schools ages 15-19. They will be made up of 50% girls and 50% boys. We will conduct Motivational Interviews with each teenager in a confidential setting. Our staff will be trained on proper guidelines and how to conduct a motivational interview. We will have paper questionnaires and teenagers can write in answers or have you record if they prefer. Dose delivered will be 30 participants. Dose received is 30 participants. Reach is 30 participants.
Questions will include:
What are your health goals?
Do you exercise and if so, how often?
Do you eat breakfast and how many days a week?
Do you feel breakfast is important?
Do you skip meals – if so, which ones regularly
Do you eat fast food? How often
Do you drink soda? How often
Are you interested in learning about becoming healthier and stronger?
Impact:
As mentioned above, Motivational interviewing is person centered and will allow me to “explore” my teens health issues and eating habits and design a need-based approach. MI allows teenagers to “explore and resolve ambivalence associated with behavior change (Rubak et. al., 2005). The impact is the ability to resolve ambivalence with MI.
Strategy #2
Minnesota Extension Program
According to the search institute (2017) literature, eight elements of best practices from the University of Minnesota Extension that are proven to work for youth development will be included in my program. They are:
Youth feel physically and emotionally safe
Youth experience belonging and ownership
Youth develop self-worth
Youth discover self
Youth develop quality relationships with peers and adults
Youth discuss conflicting values and form their own
Youth feel the pride and accountability that comes with mastery
Strategy: Social Cognitive Theory: Strategy #3
SCT
My team of 20 volunteers will work with teenagers who attended the workshop. We will send out worksheets to track fast food and soda intake for 4 weeks after workshop. We will also track dieting behavior. We will create data to figure out post workshop impact of study.
Dose up to 1500 teens
Reach up to 1500 teens
Impact : Bandura’s SCT is a main component of addiction quitting (Heydari et. al., 2014). The teens in my workshop will keep records of their fast food and soda intake for one month. The boys will gain control over their behavior and learn self-regulation and self-control that will have a large influence on the impact of my study (McKenzi et. al.,2017, p. 177). The impact is behavior change.
Strategy #4
Activity: Social Media Campaign
Why is social media important? In my three years at American University, I have studied cases of teenagers and the influence social media has on their behavior. I have done several presentations on body image and teenagers and know that social media and role models are very useful in helping change negative behaviors. My goal is to develop a social media campaign aimed at reducing fast food and sugar intake using a celebrity athlete as a role model. I previously designed this infographic that will be distributed to teens.
Strategy: Use Social Media campaign for one month in conjunction with zoom workshops to change awareness and behavior. Strategy
Social Media / Zoom Workshop
I will conduct a series of three, one hour workshops myself on zoom. I will have two assistants to help me gather questions and set up the zoom workshop. I will also have my assistants make sure an invitation to the workshop is accepted by participants. The workshop will be open to all teens on Mercer Island ages 15-19 years old. Dose is one workshop. Dose delivered is 3 times one 60-minute workshop. Reach is approximately 1500 teens at Mercer Island High School.
Social Media Impact: As mentioned above, since teenagers are very active on Social Media, I know this is an effective way to connect and communicate with this age group. The advantage of social networking is that they can easily invite friends, I can reach a lot of people, I can update and post information quickly and there is unlimited space (McKenzi et. al., 2017, p. 214). Social media has some unique qualities such as it is user generated, it is low cost, information can be revised quickly and it can reach more people (McKenzi et. al., 2017, p. 199). The impact will be gaining knowledge of healthy eating and dieting concerns to health in the teenager population.
Activity:Tracking soda and fast food during and after study
Strategy: Change through awareness of current behaviors.
Questionnaire
My team of 20 volunteers will work with teenagers who attended the workshop. We will send out worksheets to track fast food and soda intake. We will also track dieting behavior. We will create data to figure out how pre-workshop eating and dietary behavior. Dose and reach up to 1500 participants.
Step 3-5
Target of Question
Process- Evaluation Question
Method of Assessment for Question
Resources Required
Recruitment
Were teens aware of the program?
*Did our pre-diagnostic questions help us find the appropriate data?
*Did we have enough volunteers?
Reach
Did we have enough resources to reach 1500 teenagers?
Did we sign up 60% teenagers for our workshop?
*Did we overextend our volunteers?
Fidelity
Did our logic model fit the program adequately?
Did this age group participate in the survey?
*Did our volunteers learn how to conduct Motivational Interviews properly?
Context
Did social media platform fit the program?
Did social media work as a way to deliver our workshop?
Did we have a clean workshop on Zoom ?
Dose Delivered
Did we have enough Motivational Interviews?
Did we deliver all of the questionnaires ?
Did we have a lot of participants?
Dose Received
Did we get back enough questionnaires before and after the workshop?
*Was our self-assessment and data returned after the workshop ?
Did it seem to be well received by participants ?
Step 6
I think the most important questions are:
did we have enough volunteers, or did we overextend them?
did they learn how to interview using the process of motivational interviewing. My reason these are most important is because motivational interviewing takes a skill set and when performed improperly may not provide the needed information. In addition, I feel it is important to credibility and long-term use of our programs to do the program properly and to make sure we are not short staffed to get the program done well.
McKenzie, J., Neiger, B., & Thackeray, R. (2016). Planning, implementing, and evaluating health
promotion programs (7th ed.). Pearson.
Rubak, S., Sandbæk, A., Lauritzen, T., & Christensen, B. (2005, April 01). Motivational interviewing: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Retrieved from https://bjgp.org/content/55/513/305
Supportive relationships and environment. (2021). Retrieved from
We will recruit volunteers in the community. I will design an motivational interview for the teens which volunteers will learn how to conduct to teens who participate in the program. We will get feedback on eating habits of 30 + teens and design a workshop to fit the needs of the teen community. Workshops will be one hour in length and conducted via zoom.
Environmental component
Nutrition education program presented to Mercer Island High School in an after-school setting via zoom.
Training component
Nutrition educator volunteers will receive the motivational interviewing skills needed to ensure a successful program.
Curriculum Component
My team of nutrition educator, volunteers, will set up motivational interviews to assess students current eating habits.
Nutrition educators will gather data on current teen eating habits and attitudes toward skipping breakfast, skipping meals, eating fast food and drinking soda.
Nutrition educators will present three -one hour zoom workshops to teens from Mercer Island to help teach them better ways to create a healthier eating plan.
Nutrition educators will follow up with a survey after each workshop to evaluate the attitude of the teens.
Teenagers will conclude with a one-month task of tracking their soda intake and fast-food intake after the workshop to gage if the workshops changed teenager’s behavior.
Process Evaluation Questions
Recruitment – Were enough participants recruited to make the program successful
What recruitment procedures were used to recruit participants
What were the barriers to recruiting teens?
Fidelity
Did our logic model fit the philosophy of the program?
Dose Delivered
Did we have enough volunteers?
Did we have enough motivational interviewers
Did we cover all of the content adequately?
Dose Received
Were the participants engaged
Reach
Did we have enough resources to reach the teenagers adequately?
Context
Was social media a good choice for this program. Was zoom an effective way to communicate with the age group.
References:
McKenzie, J, Neiger, B., & Thackeray, R. (2017). Planning, Implementing, and Evaluating Health
Promotion Programs: A Primer. 7th ed. Pearson Education, Inc
Saunders, R.P., Evans, M. H., & Joshi, P. (2005). Developing a Process-Evaluation Plan for
Assessing Health Promotion Program Implementation: A How-To Guide. Health Promotion
“A Rationale for a Workshop for Teens on Mercer Island on Healthy Eating Habits”
Lauren Feuerman. Leahy
American University Master of Nutrition Education
The Problem
Studies have shown that adolescence is a period which healthy or unhealthy eating habits develop. From the research Van Vilet et. al., (2016) presented in a cross-sectional study with written questionaires and physical measurements, “dieting to lose weight and skipping breakfast were more common among adolescents than younger boys and girls.” From this research it seems clear that the strongest factor to dieting in both boys and girls was a perception of being overweight and skipping breakfast was associated with a more negative body image (Van Vliet et. al., 2016). Another key determinant was a higher BMI in boys leads to skipping breakfast (Van Vliet, et. al., 2016). Findings from a NHANES sample indicate that from 2013 – 2016, 37% of adolescents tried to lose weight. Some ways in which adolescents tried to lose weight were skipping meals which made up 16% of the total adolescents polled (McDow, Nguyen, Herrick, & Akinbami, 2019). According to GAIN health or the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition, “The overall findings are worrying. Across the globe, adolescents do not eat enough fruits and vegetables and consume too much soda and fast food (Beal, 2019). Unhealthy diets among adolescents, along with low physical activity, are contributing to the coexistence of undernutrition, overweight or obesity and noncommunicable diseases, which can harm adolescents now and in later life as well as the next generation”
The Population- Narrowing the Problem
My audience will be made up of 40 Mercer Island High School adolescents from age 15-19 with an emphasis on boys. Mercer Island is a small town approximately 10 minutes from Seattle, Washington. We have one high school that has 1500 students. Mercer Island is a highly educated community with many professionals and adults with higher education. Most teenagers are concerned about their ability to perform in school with 95% graduating in four years (Washington office of the Superintendent, 2020). Kids are also very concerned about self-image which I have observed in my twenty years of living in the area and raising two teenagers.
I will have motivational interviews with each child and understand their current eating habits. Some questions I will ask will be related to if they skip breakfast, how often they eat fast food or do they drink soda.
The Solution
My proposed program will be called Nutrition Education Workshops for Teenagers on Mercer Island. The program will consist of 1) a motivational interview to discover needs of teenagers and find out eating habits 2) a series of zoom calls which I will educate teenagers on a healthy diet and the pros of eating breakfast daily 3) a follow up program to track food intake and fast food/soda intake 4) guest speakers to role model healthy eating and success in business and sports 5) social media ads to encourage eating breakfast and skipping fast foods and sodas. In addition, I will look at barriers to action. I will keep the lesson plan fun and age appropriate. I will integrate CBT and Social Cognitive Theory to establish self-efficacy in making good decision. 4) The methodology I will use is from University of Minnesota Extension programs in Nutrition. The program I researched works with teens to build self-efficacy. My plan is to have a fun and engaging program to help them learn to love breakfast and make smart choices. In addition, according to the search institute (2017) literature, eight elements of best practices from the University of Minnesota Extension that are proven to work for youth development will be included in my program. They are:
Youth feel physically and emotionally safe
Youth experience belonging and ownership
Youth develop self-worth
Youth discover self
Youth develop quality relationships with peers and adults
Youth discuss conflicting values and form their own
Youth feel the pride and accountability that comes with mastery
The Opportunity – What is in it for Mercer Island
I decided to use Social Media and Zoom calls in my program due to the fact that teenagers are using social media and computers. A study from the Pew Research Center found that “more than 50 percent of 13- to 17-year-olds go online several times a day. This quickly increases during the teenage years to over 70 minutes per day, with teenage girls having the highest usage at just over 140 minutes per day. It is important to recognize that non-school related use of the internet and social media is often beheld by teenagers as important for developing their self-esteem, their acceptance among peers and their mental health in general” (Coppes, 2019).
Mercer Island High School has approximately 1500 children enrolled. I have lived on Mercer Island for twenty-two years. We have a an active and engaged student body and PTA with a program called Parent Edge where we bring in speakers in all areas to the community. I will have a 45-minute teenage nutrition education series for the children of Mercer Island High School. The people who benefit the most are teens, parents and teachers. It would be an important addition to our school to embrace how to help teens with health and better performance in school and life.
The Promise and Gain to Mercer Island
According to Carroll (2014), “The push for school nutrition initiatives traditionally has focused on health outcomes. While these certainly are important, it’s time to shift the conversation to include the academic implications of dietary choices. It’s clear that nutrition behaviors such as eating breakfast impact learning outcomes. Other behaviors, such as adequate fruit and vegetable intake, better diet quality, and lower consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages, are supported by a growing body of evidence for their role in academic performance.”
Mercer Island High School students will have better overall grades and attendance due to improvements in nutrition. What can be gained is a lifetime of healthy eating habits and cost savings to our medical systems with a good preventative plan to nutrition. Mercer Island will be an example to other high schools that are trying to help kids increase awareness of healthy eating.
Reason to Invest in this Program and Why Will it Be Successful
Mercer Island prides itself on its education. As stated above, 95% of children graduate high school on Mercer Island and 55% of our teachers have a Master’s degree (Office of Superintendent, 2020). Adolescents at this school strive to be the best at everything as we can see by our level of higher degrees and problems can lead to more chronic issues such as poor grades, lack of vitamins and poor performance in activities. If Mercer Island strives to be the best, it needs to educate its teens on healthy habits.
References
Adolescent and young adult health. (2021). Retrieved from https://www.who.int/news-
Heydari, A., Dashtgard, A., & Moghadam, Z. E. (2014, January). The effect of Bandura’s social cognitive theory implementation on addiction quitting of clients referred to addiction quitting clinics Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3917180/
Mccreary, D. R., & Sasse, D. K. (2000). An Exploration of the Drive for Muscularity in Adolescent Boys and Girls. Journal of American College Health,48(6), 297-304 doi:10.1080/07448480009596271
McKenzie, J., Neiger, B., & Thackeray, R. (2016). Planning, implementing, and evaluating health promotion programs (7th ed.). Pearson.
Rubak, S., Sandbæk, A., Lauritzen, T., & Christensen, B. (2005, April 01). Motivational interviewing: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Retrieved from https://bjgp.org/content/55/513/305
Saunders, R.P., Evans, M. H., & Joshi, P. (2005). Developing a Process-Evaluation Plan for Assessing Health Promotion Program Implementation: A How-To Guide. Health Promotion Practice, 6(2), 134-147
Supportive relationships and environment. (2021). Retrieved from https://extension.umn.edu/supportive-relationships-and-environment/positive-youth development
Vliet, J. S., Gustafsson, P. A., & Nelson, N. (2016). Feeling ‘too fat’ rather than being ‘too fat’ increases unhealthy eating habits among adolescents – even in boys. Food & Nutrition Research,60(1), 29530. doi:10.3402/fnr.v60.29530
Studies have shown that adolescence is a period which healthy or unhealthy eating habits develop. A cross sectional study I read showed how physical measurements and body perception related to eating habits, dieting to lose weight and skipping breakfast. The strongest risk factor to dieting was the perception of being overweight (Van Vliet et. al., 2016). Another key determinant was BMI in boys (Van Vliet et. al., 2016). Findings from a NHANES sample indicate that from 2013 – 2016, 37% of adolescents tried to lose weight. Boys made up 30.1% of that statistic (McDow et. al., 2019). Some ways in which adolescents tried to lose weight were skipping meals which made up 16% of the total adolescents polled (McDow et. al.,, 2019). According to GAIN health or the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition, “The overall findings are worrying. Across the globe, adolescents do not eat enough fruits and vegetables and consume too much soda and fast food. The specific dietary challenges vary somewhat by region, income and type of food system, requiring specific attention by subgroup.
Unhealthy diets among adolescents, along with low physical activity, are contributing to the coexistence of undernutrition, overweight or obesity and noncommunicable diseases, which can harm adolescents now and in later life as well as the next generation” (gainhealth.org/media/news/unhealthy-adolescent-diets-unicef-report-wake-call, 2019)
The percentage of adolescents who tried to lose weight in the NHANES study between 2013-2016 increased by year
There was no significant difference in percentages of boys and girls who tried to lose weight who were considered obese.
Almost ½ of adolescent girls and 1/3 of adolescent boys are trying to lose weight according to the same study
Among adolescents who tried to lose weight, most common methods were exercising and drinking a lot of water however 16% skipped meals to lose weight.
According to GAIN, findings are worrying because “across the globe, adolescents do not eat enough fruits and vegetables and consume too much fast food and soda.”
The challenge of changing adolescent behavior should not be underestimated. It is a time in most people’s lives where the flow is against their better judgement. The issue with obesity and teenage weight insecurity is real. We are struggling to help them love their bodies and fill themselves with the healthiest foods in the face of poor self-esteem and a lot of fast-food options. We have learned that self-efficacy is critical in change. Feeling empowered and good about oneself and one’s decisions is critical for this age group. My workshops over zoom and motivational counseling will help them put the pieces together and build a plan that they can believe in and have social support for their journey toward a healthier way of life.
References
Adolescent and young adult health. (2021). Retrieved from https://www.who.int/news-