Addressing Health and Wellness for At-Risk Urban Youth: A Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) Study to Assess Environmental Health (EH) Concerns

At-risk urban youth benefit from mentored activities. The Champion Academy (CA) is a youth mentoring program for high risk urban youth. We used a community based participatory research (CBPR) approach to explore: 1) youth perspectives on health and wellness, EH and EJ; and 2) community perspectives on the intersection of structural racism, health equity, and youth health and wellness. We surveyed CA participants to assess health and wellness and conducted youth and adult interviews and focus groups to understand what environmental factors impact their daily lives. In 45 youth surveys, 64% reported enjoying time outdoors; 45% had concerns about pollution. The five youth focus groups (N = 49) and individual interviews (N = 10) identified 3 themes: (1) pervasive community violence; (2) systemic racism, and (3) limited power to make change. The two adult focus groups (N = 7) and individual interviews (N = 5) identified: 1) normalization of environmental problems and violence; 2) youth prioritize survival over health and wellness; 3) CA education should emphasize relevance to youth; 4) access to healthy foods is limited; and 5) mindsets need to change. In sum, youth's real-life environmental concerns must be addressed as part of more typical EH concerns.