WGBH Greater Boston: Prof. Augsberger & Colleagues Discuss the Vital Role of Youth Voices in Healthcare
The voices of teens and young adults are crucial to improving health outcomes, but their opinions are not often considered. BUSSW Professor Astraea Augsberger, Katherine Gergen Barnett, MD, from BU School of Medicine/BMC, and student Osasenaga Idahor are working to change this. They spoke with WGBH’s Liz Neisloss on Greater Boston about their yearlong research project which took place during the height of the coronavirus pandemic and focused on individual and community perceptions of health among youth. Thanks to the success of their project, Boston Medical Center is implementing a youth advisory board.
Excerpt from the Greater Boston episode on June 9, 2022 (starts at 15:20):
Throughout the year-long project which occurred during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, the youth examined the questions: what are individual and community perceptions of health? And what factors promote positive relationships between youth of color and health care professionals? The photo voice method is really a visual health assessment strategy. It is an empowering approach where youth take photos in their own community and they share their photos with a larger group and critically analyze what they represent in the context of their own lived experiences… They came up with a collective narrative which is the idea that Covid-19 is a revealing source. It highlights the systemic inequities and the real need for, moving forward, to have young people at the table and making decisions around health care.”
Regarding whether this represents a shift in the role of social work in how health care and medicine are delivered, Prof. Augsberger added: “The shift is happening. I think that many researchers are aware of the need for all voices in research and the participatory research method really is centered on engaging participants and community members throughout the entire research process. So that we are partnering in identifying priorities, as well as solutions.”