Youth Empowered Advocating for Health (YEAH): Facilitating Partnerships Between Prevention Scientists and Black Youth to Promote Health Equity

Abstract

Structural racism inflicts a disproportionate burden of stress and trauma within Black communities, resulting in physical and mental health inequities that impact Black youth. Yet few multilevel interventions exist to address these deeply rooted inequities from a preventive standpoint, and even fewer are informed by the participatory input of the impacted communities. To bridge these gaps, we developed a community-based prevention strategy that promotes agency and active resistance to structural racism, Youth Empowered Advocating for Health (YEAH), and implemented it across various settings. We outline the development, implementation, and expansion of YEAH as a tool for promoting optimal health among Black communities. Lastly, we discuss lessons learned and offer a framework outlining key principles for prevention scientists to partner with Black youth and engage them in translational science to address structural racism. This framework is aimed at driving policies, practices, and procedures that promote equitable and sustainable change for and with Black communities.

Commentary for Special Issue on Advancing Health Equity Among Black Communities: Implications for Research Funders (and Researchers)

“…This theme is present in the current special issue and elsewhere (e.g., Skelton-Wilson et al, 2021 ). Woods-Jaeger et al ( 2022 ) present a detailed account of what ethical engagement of youth in research might look like. Woods-Jaeger et al ( 2022 ) developed a community-based prevention strategy that actively resists structural racism, Youth Empowered Advocating for Health (YEAH).…”

“…This is due in part to the prevailing frame that guides research funders’ investments in prevention science, which focuses on individuals, specifically on supporting and enhancing the skills of those targeted by racism and discrimination. The authors of the articles in this special issue urge us instead to support research on and using anti-racist strategies, including studies that pursue more culturally relevant and strength based-approaches (Barbarin et al, 2022 ; Berkel et al, 2022 ; Murry et al, 2022 ; Temple & Varshney, 2023 ), and which engage those most directly affected in the design of the research (Woods-Jaeger et al, 2022 ). But this call for change comes with guidance about ethical approaches (Woods-Jaeger et al, 2022 ) and cautions about positionality (Wooten, 2023 ).…”

“…The authors of the articles in this special issue urge us instead to support research on and using anti-racist strategies, including studies that pursue more culturally relevant and strength based-approaches (Barbarin et al, 2022 ; Berkel et al, 2022 ; Murry et al, 2022 ; Temple & Varshney, 2023 ), and which engage those most directly affected in the design of the research (Woods-Jaeger et al, 2022 ). But this call for change comes with guidance about ethical approaches (Woods-Jaeger et al, 2022 ) and cautions about positionality (Wooten, 2023 ). Similarly, the authors recommend approaches that focus on the actors and environments that can perpetuate racism (Temple & Varshney, 2023 ).…”

Developing practices for hospital-based violence intervention programs to address anti-Black racism and historical trauma.

“…In addition to codeveloping HEART to address historical trauma and anti-Black racism experienced as racial trauma, we are implementing and evaluating Youth Empowered Advocating for Health (YEAH) a community-based prevention strategy that promotes agency and active resistance to anti-Black racism (Woods-Jaeger, Jahangir, et al, 2022). Through YEAH Black youth exposed to community violence have examined how historical trauma and anti-Black racism perpetuates community violence among Black youth and young adults and identified policies and practices to disrupt these drivers of community violence.…”

Reimagining traumatic stress studies as a participatory science grounded in critical self‐reflection: A call to action

“…Healing‐centered engagement training (https://flourishagenda.com/) and detailed steps on implementation are also available (https://ginwright.medium.com/the-future-of-healing-shifting-from-trauma-informed-care-to-healing-centered-engagement-634f557ce69c). Evidence demonstrates that the accurate application of participatory and healing‐centered methods can (a) impart a counternarrative to trauma, vulnerability, and victimization; (b) promote health equity and empowerment; and (c) lead to innovative, sustainable solutions that are grounded in cultural and community assets (Henderson et al., 2021; Kia‐Keating & Juang, 2022; Woods‐Jaeger et al., 2022). Careful examination of this evidence demonstrates that reimagining TSS in this way not only helps researchers and clinicians to better understand trauma and how to equitably respond to it but also leaves a ripple effect of benefits that nurture communities and social change.…”