The Health-Focused Mindset (HFM) Program is a 12-week program designed for high school teens in Indianapolis, Indiana. Using a web-based interface, the HFM program consists of four fundamental components: two environmental components creating both a school implementation team and a small group comprised of peers for the second educational module; two educational modules, The “Skinny” on Diet and a Social Media Health Promotion project. The HFM Program uses a combination of theoretical approaches to create an effective health promotion program for obesity, including diffusion theory, social cognitive theory, and social-ecological theory. In addressing several levels of influence, including intrapersonal, interpersonal, and community, the HFM looks to improve the quality, effectiveness, and sustainability of the program’s goals.
Strategy 1: Nutrition Education
The nutrition education component of the HFM Program looks to improve the health literacy of high school students in Indianapolis, Indiana. Students do not have a required nutrition curriculum at the state level in Indiana, so this program looks to supplement the educational void.
Strategy 2: Health Communication
Not only do students learn nutrition knowledge in the education components of the program, but they also learn practical health communication strategies themselves. In the second educational module, students design their own health promotion social media campaign based on the information from the first module to share with their peers.
Strategy 3: Environmental Change Strategies
The HFM Program relies on social support structures to reinforce behavior change in a sustainable way. By fostering peer group work and enabling students to share their new-found knowledge on social media, the HFM Program looks to help provide students with opportunities and support to assist them in developing healthier behaviors (McKenzie, Neiger & Thackeray, 2017).
Reference
McKenzie, J.F., Neiger, B.L., & Thackeray, R. (2017). Planning, Implementing, and Evaluating Health Promotion Programs: A Primer (7th ed.). Pearson Education, Inc.