Promote health in 100 teens in Portland, Oregon

During a typical session with MIKE Program, small groups of youth gather around their mentors seated throughout the classroom. The youth share how they’re feeling and comment on the topics of the day as they dive into the day’s healthy snack. MIKE Program mentors take turns bringing healthy snacks to the class to expose youth to food alternatives from the usual junk food lineup. It’s a tasty lesson that helps teenagers focus on a variety of health-related information and skills.

As the session progresses, each mentor guides their team of four-five youth through hands-on lessons featuring a variety of components of overall health with a focus on kidneys. One day the mentors steer the youth through building a make-shift kidney as a way to illustrate the processes of this vital organ. On another day they encourage the youth to express their ideas for health by designing a t-shirt with a health message. During each class session, MIKE Program mentors serve as role models reinforcing an ongoing relationship that empowers the youth to develop leadership skills for managing their health.

MIKE Program mentors volunteer on a weekly basis for at least one semester. It’s a serious commitment for a cadre of individuals already busy with college and professional work. A majority of MIKE Program’s mentors are health professions’ students in degree programs in public health, medicine or psychology. As the mentors progress through MIKE Program, their impact on the youth becomes both personal and increasingly clinical.

Building meaningful relationships through mentoring enables both the youth and mentors to expand their social skills and career opportunities. MIKE Program mentor and Pacific University doctoral student Tara Sharifan’s research focuses on the outcomes of youth mentorship in the program. She found that mentoring with MIKE Program improved the mentors’ personal health, knowledge and habits, as well as increased their professional development.

The impact of the program on the mentors extends beyond academics. One mentor quoted in Tara’s study said, ““Mentoring has helped me look beyond the scope of ‘me’ when it comes to health. I still practice healthy behaviors, but now I am more interested in how I can model health for others and have a greater impact on the community.”

For most MIKE Program mentors, their experience is as much about being positive role models as it is about expanding their experiences with diverse populations. MIKE Program concentrates its efforts on vulnerable youth more likely to experience health disparities and chronic diseases than the overall population. Another mentor shared, “I have been able to diversify my experience as a community health advocate and role model while also gaining valuable skills that have transferred to both my own personal life as well as the lives of others around me.”

Tara, who mentors with MIKE Program at Miller Education Center West, also studied the effects of mentoring on youth participating in the program. She found teens in the program acquired useful knowledge about kidney health, gained empowerment as health leaders, and strengthened their connections with near-peer mentors.

Tara is part of a team at Pacific University’s School of Professional Psychology researching outcomes of MIKE Program. Headed the Susan T. Li, PhD, professor and director of the Child and Adolescent Track at Pacific University’s School of Professional Psychology, the team of doctoral candidates analyze youth knowledge before and after the program to determine MIKE Program’s effectiveness. The partnership, now in its fourth year, is looking deeper into general and targeted population outcomes of MIKE Program on youth and mentors.

“At Pacific University, we train students to be outstanding health service professionals who are equipped to serve our diverse communities in the 21st Century,” said. “Our partnership with MIKE Program allows us to meet this goal.”

Dr. Li presented her team’s key findings with an overview of the partnership during a panel presentation at the Western Psychological Association’s 2014 Annual Conference in Portland on April 26, 2014. Her team has also presented their research on MIKE Program outcomes at three other conferences this spring. Dr. Li’s future presentations include the Familias en Accion’s Latino Health Equity Conference and the American Psychological Association’s Division 45 Research Conference, both in June.

Links:

• MIKE Program website