A Virtual COVID-19 Youth Ambassador Program: The UI Health CHAMPIONS Experience

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to exacerbate socioeconomic and educational hardships rooted in systemic inequities for youth across the United States. (Virtual) youth resilience and health promotion efforts are viable mechanisms to address these hardships in the context of a double pandemic: COVID-19 and structural racism. Health professions training programs hold a unique opportunity to incorporate COVID-19 health education to train and empower youth to become community health ambassadors. Grounded on a Grow-Your-Own (GYO) approach, UI Health CHAMPIONS spearheaded the development of the COVID-19 Youth Ambassador Program (COVID-19 YAP), a virtual multistage and multipartner effort. Its mission is to equip youth with knowledge, perspective, and tools to have empathetic, informative conversations within their networks about COVID-19. Via e-learning, modules cover viruses and the immune system; vaccine development; health disparities/equity; and health advocacy. Participants are introduced to Human-Centered Design Thinking to guide the development of advocacy projects. COVID-19 YAP's uniqueness lies in the team of program coordinators consisting of (pre-)health professional student workers with a desire to engage in health equity efforts and community health ambassadorship. Freirean principles are applied across program design and delivery; Dialogical Education encourages the educator to become the student and the student to become an educator. This co-learning process empowers students and educators to become agents of social change. COVID-19 YAP can serve as a collaborative effort addressing a public health priority, contributing toward digital health equity, and creating community resilience while encouraging youth to pursue a health profession and become community health advocates.