Community Involvement in Adolescents: Challenges for health promotion initiatives
Abstract
Healthy adolescent development is closely related to adolescents’ behavior, which in
turn, is influenced by the social contexts in which adolescents live their lives. Social
policies aimed at the promotion of health and well-being of adolescents advanced by several public offices (e.g., MINSAL, MINEDUC, INJUV) include youth participation
and community involvement at its core. This paper discusses the central tenets of the health promotion approach and the specific role of youth participation.
Findings from an empirical study of community involvement in youth from La Florida
and Macul counties in Santiago are reported. A discrepancy between perceived
needs for youth participation and youth’s actual involvement in community activities
and organizations is found. According to the results of the study, youth is only
minimally involved in activities organized by formal and informal institutions, and
in community settings such as school government, church groups, youth programs,
neighborhood or political organizations. The implications of these findings for the
advancement of health and social policies that promote youth participation to
advance their own health and well-being are discussed.
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