Pasifika Prediabetes Youth Empowerment Programme: learnings from a youth-led community-based intervention study.

AIM: Using a co-design approach, we describe exploratory findings of a community-based intervention to mobilise Pasifika communities into action, with the intent of reducing the risk factors of prediabetes. METHOD: A group of 25 Pasifika youth aged 15-24 years from two distinctive Pasifika communities in New Zealand were trained to lead a small-scale, community-based intervention programme (among 29 participants) over the course of eight weeks. The intervention, which targeted adults aged 25-44 years who were overweight or obese, employed both an empowerment-based programme and a co-design approach to motivate community members to participate in a physical-activity-based intervention programme. RESULTS: Findings show significant reductions in total body weight and waist circumference, as well as improved physical activity. CONCLUSIONS: The strength of this intervention was evident in the innovative approach of utilising Pasifika-youth-led and co-designed approaches to motivate communities into healthier lifestyles. The approaches used in this project could be utilised in a primary healthcare setting as a community-wide strategy to reduce diabetes risk, particularly among Pasifika peoples.

Developing principles of social change as a result of a Pasifika Youth Empowerment Program: A qualitative study.

ISSUE: Empowerment is a concept over-used in health promotion, yet it is an important process that can used in developing the capacity and capability of young people for creating social change to improve healthier lives. METHODS: The Youth Empowerment Program (YEP), a pilot study aimed at empowering 15 youth (18-24 years) to lead healthier lives. We present secondary outcomes of the original YEP study, using focus groups and mobile-mentary approaches to capture the impact of the YEP through the youths' understanding of the program. Thematic analyses to examine the pragmatic usefulness of the empowerment program. RESULTS: We identified three major themes: (aa) Knowledge: education and awareness of healthy living and understanding of the wider social health issues, compound the health complexities of obesity; (b) Youth as catalysts for change: the youth viewed themselves as agents of social change; and (c) Transformation: the youth recognised themselves as catalysts for change that can positively transform communities into action. CONCLUSION: This study contributes new insights and depth of understanding about how the empowerment program can strengthen the process of individual capacity in an effort to mobilise social change for the betterment of the whole community, particularly among indigenous Pasifika population groups. SO WHAT?: Developing empowerment principles will enable others to consider "how apply" empowerment more practically when working with young people and not use it flippantly with no real action-oriented outcome.