April 2011 - Program Updates

OPHA Youth Engagement Project Update

Funded by Health Canada, the OPHA Youth Engagement Project commenced in February 2009 and will run until June 2011. The primary goal of this project is to increase the application of knowledge and skills around youth engagement among public health professionals working with Grades 6, 7 and 8. A second goal is to increase youth engagement activities in communities that enhance protective and resiliency factors against illicit drug use and risk taking behaviours among this age group.

OPHA worked closely with six health units across the province to pilot project resources, processes, a networking website, and other tools. These health units are sincerely applauded for their incredible efforts and commitment to the project, along with their contributions to our evaluation activities over the past 18 months. These six health units are:

  • Chatham-Kent Public Health Unit
  • Halton Region Health Department
  • Ottawa Public Health
  • Oxford County Public Health
  • Sudbury & District Health Unit
  • Windsor-Essex County Health Unit

As we are approaching the completion of the project, there is much work to report on as well as some exciting events taking place. Please find below a summary of the project's most recent accomplishments and upcoming events:

  • The development of a sustainability plan for pilot sites continuing on with youth engagement was distributed in Winter 2011.
  • Six regional in-person Youth Engagement workshops are planned for May to June. These will be held in London, Oxford, Ottawa, Sudbury, Thunder Bay, and Toronto.
  • Two free informational webinars will be held in April to highlight resources and evaluation data of the project.
  • A Youth Engagement Toolkit, and Project Lead’s Guide in both French and English will be released and advertised in April 2011.
  • A publically available Youth Engagement website is to be launched in April.

For more information on this project, please contact the Project Coordinator, Jennifer Lodge.