THE PRINCIPLE
By helping young people understand how to protect their own health, and fostering the skills and enthusiasm to share this information with peers, we can create a tipping point to transform health outcomes for future generations of District residents.

HOW IT WORKS
The Adolescent Wellness Initiative (AWI) is a prevention and youth leadership project for DC youth between the ages of 14 and 21.  Developed at the request of community-based partners, providers, and focus group participants, the program engages young people in the District at an early age to encourage the practice of healthy behaviors with an open and realistic approach to wellness education, and instills a sense of advocacy to ensure the promise of their own futures and the futures of their peers, families, and neighborhoods.

AWI’s holistic wellness approach connects the dots between prevention of HIV/AIDS, diabetes, obesity, hypertension, substance abuse, teen pregnancy, and other risk factors – all of which contribute to the prevalence of serious health issues and chronic disease in DC adults – and the reinforcement of positive goals such as health, safety, education, community, career development, opportunity, entrepreneurship, entertainment, and creativity.  Reaching teenagers with wellness education that is holistic and relevant to their lives, as well as providing incentivized opportunities to engage in physical activity, sets the AWI program apart from other child wellness initiatives in DC.

GOALS
Increase Health Literacy and Promote Behavior Change for Youth in the District
AWI trains youth using “well life” prevention strategies which recognize that health is not the absence of disease, but a positive condition based on scientific knowledge and reasoned behavior.  Youth involved in weekly AWI training sessions receive nine months of concentrated wellness education to enhance and improve their health literacy. In addition to promoting healthy eating, AWI has also developed a component to promote exercise by making diverse fitness activities available at times and locations accessible to teens.  Volunteer mentors are engaged so that each participant can develop an independent wellness project that will provide education and outreach to the larger youth community.

Connect Health and Social Justice Issues for Youth
Youth participating in AWI sessions can articulate an understanding of the relationship between community wellness and individual health outcomes, and the variety of factors that contribute to a well life.  AWI programming focuses on the relationship between health outcomes and socio-economic factors and makes connections to address the root causes of obesity, chronic disease, and health disparities in DC by empowering youth on health, economic, legal, and community issues.

Improve the Health Care Infrastructure Serving Adolescents
DCPCA is developing and engaging in strategies to increase adolescents’ comfort with and utilization of the health care system.  As part of continued technical assistance and development offered through DCPCA’s Quality Transformation Series, community health centers are encouraged to meet specific standards of excellence related to the provision of care that supports adolescent health.  Several clinics are now changing their practices to pursue these standards of excellence.  DCPCA is an active participant in regional groups concerned with adolescent utilization of health and social services, including the DC Healthy Youth Coalition, the Sexually Transmitted Infections Community Coalition, and the DC Alliance of Youth Advocates.

Links

AWI 2008-2009 Final Evaluation Report

Juvenescence 2009 Sponsor Agreement

AWI Volunteer Information

AWI Newsletter (Volume 2, June 2007)

Summer Youth Opportunities