HealthRICH: Health Risks Information and Choices — Phase II

Abstract

The overriding goal of this Phase II project is to promote national dissemination of the Phase I HealthRICH products and resources as these materials effectively encourage young teens and their families to make informed personal choices and reduce their environmental health risks. HealthRICH Phase II will accomplish the following aims: Aim 1: Disseminate HealthRICH materials to the Phase I partnership network and SEPA community by providing final versions of HealthRICH materials to these partners and offering graduate-credit online courses for Phase 1 teachers on adapting the HealthRICH materials (originally designed for informal settings) for use in science and health classes. Aim 2: Establish “Strive to Thrive!” science/health after-school activity clubs in middle schools throughout the United States and support these clubs by providing training for club sponsors and supplies for clubs to use in doing the hands-on investigations from the four “Strive to Thrive!” activity handbooks. Aim 3: Conduct a research study to answer the following questions: How do the HealthRICH activity books affect student learning and do any effects differ by race/ethnicity gender SES grade level or combinations of these factors? How has HealthRICH club participation affected participant health perceptions and behaviors? Question 1 will be answered via pre/post content tests administered to random samples of both HealthRICH and non-HealthRICH students (matched by school and type of class). Instruments used in Phase I will be adapted and validated. Statistical analyses will control for different settings and different treatment times. Question 2 will be answered via the development and validation of a questionnaire based on the Health Belief Model which measures perceptions of benefits barriers and susceptibility. A staggered research design with a control group will be used. Data analyses will control for different time settings. Aim 4: Adapt Phase I materials to support new disemination efforts including the development of an online course for classroom teachers family/community challenge handouts a series of ethics scenario supplements creative outreach samples and a how-to guide for creative outreach. Aim 5: Expand public and professional awareness of the HealthRICH materials by working with our dissemination partners to distribute HealthRICH materials as part of their youth programming community outreach and public service activities; by using the Terrific Science Network and press to continue the marketing and distribution of the published works and by submitting articles to professional journals and making presentations and disseminating materials at professional meetings.