- Author: Marcel Horowitz
- Author: Dorina Espinoza
- Author: Anne Iaccopucci
- Author: Natalie Cunha
As a result of UC 4-H Mindful Mechanics classes, 4-H staff feel better prepared to lead lessons and discussions with 4-H youth around mindfulness, mental health, and stress-management, demonstrating UC ANR's commitment to healthy people and communities.
The Issue
Seven out of ten teens are struggling with mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic, as is demonstrated by a 2020 report from national 4-H. Poor mental health can lead to uncertainty, anxiety and depression. Eighty two percent of youth surveyed are “calling on America to talk more openly and honestly about mental health issues in this country.” Seventy-nine percent wished there was a safe space for people in school to talk about mental health, and 70% want schools to teach them more about mental health and coping. As the nation's largest out-of school youth organization, 4-H has a significant role to play in ameliorating these concerns and issues.
“In particular, teens who are less resilient seem to struggle, reporting more frequent feelings of anxiety and depression, as well as a stronger struggle with ambiguity and pressure from others to hide their feelings (National 4-H). However, many Cooperative Extension professionals don't feel prepared to discuss, much less teach, the concepts that build emotional resilience.
How UC Delivers
UC ANR academics, Anne Iaccopucci and Katherine Soule, partnered with Kendra Lewis of University of New Hampshire to change that. With the development of the Mindful Mechanics curriculum adopted by National 4-H, Youth Development professionals have a tool to begin these conversations and interventions with youth members ages twelve and older.
Using this curriculum, the UC 4-H Healthy Living Leadership Team (comprised of Marcel Horowitz, Dorina Espinoza and Natalie Cunha, in addition to the lead author of the curriculum) offered a 13-lesson virtual statewide project for teen members in the winter of 2021, which occurred one year into stay-at-home orders that exacerbated mental health issues for many youth.
In particular, the Mindful Mechanics project taught youth to check in with their body, manage thoughts and emotions, focus on the present moment, find reasons to be grateful, use positive self-talk to improve their outlook, and to visualize joy. All of these skills are found to increase positive psychology in individuals.
A national 4-H survey stated that “4‑H Healthy Living programs provide youth with a better understanding of how their choices can help themselves, their families, and their communities.” To help their communities, youth were asked to draw a lifesize walking meditation labyrinth in a public location for others to use.
The Impact
Youth in the project reported that they learned “to appreciate myself and the things I am capable of doing”, and “how to calm myself.” National 4-H research has found that resilient teens report higher levels of confidence solving their own mental health struggles, as well as helping others with theirs; they also feel more equipped to tap into support networks compared with individuals who did not consider themselves resilient. Programs like the UC 4-H Mindfulness Mechanics class demonstrate UC ANR's commitment to healthy people and communities.
The project leaders all reported improvements in their confidence and abilities to teach mindfulness and stress-reductions skills to adolescents.
Natalie Cunha, 4-H Community Education Specialist and Co-Project Leader, stated “Cooperative Extension professionals can pass their skills on to volunteers who will then take the knowledge further into their community to positively affect their youth, integrating public and mental health into the 4-H programs.”
Dorina Espinoza, Youth, Families and Communities Advisor in Humboldt/Del Norte Counties, stated the importance of incorporating even short regular mindful practices into 4-H programming, “several participants expressed the positive impact of a 5-minute mindfulness session at the beginning of each project session”.
Marcel Horowitz, Healthy Living Leadership Team Co-Chair, Healthy Youth, Families and Communities Advisor in Yolo County, and Co-Project Leader “feels more empowered to work with teens to teach them ways they can manage the stress in their lives. These materials provide a framework for leading teens through the development of skills they need to learn to manage these emotions throughout their lives. A successful, thriving life depends on it”.
Anne Iaccopucci, Healthy Living Academic Coordinator and lead author, shared “opportunities, like the UC 4-H Virtual Mindful Mechanics project, provide extension professionals experience in delivering virtual social-emotional content through a supportive community of co-leaders.”
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- Author: Marcel Horowitz
- Author: Anne Iaccopucci
- Author: Dorina Espinoza
UC 4-H 'Disease Detectives' across California become advocates for health and COVID-19 prevention after learning about epidemiology.
The Issue
With the emergence of the coronavirus, 4-H in-person meetings had to be canceled, along with schools, sports and other youth development programs. Emerging research shows this gap of in-person socializing, disruption to routines, fear of the virus, and the loss of a sense of personal autonomy has led to an increase in social, emotional and mental health issues for teens. Over half of teens in a National 4-H Council/ Harris Poll stated that the pandemic has increased their feelings of loneliness, and 7 in 10 teens report struggling with their mental health.
How UC Delivers
The University of California 4-H Healthy Living Team witnessed that Californians were navigating confusing information about the best way to reduce the spread of the disease, with much misinformation being circulated. So the team decided to address these issues by adapting the Center for Disease Control and Prevention/4-H Junior Disease Detective: Operation Outbreak project for remote instruction.The project focused on concepts of epidemiology and included eight, interactive, virtual sessions covering public health professions, disease investigation, virus transmission, disease outbreaks, vaccines, immunity, prevention (such as how protective actions like handwashing and wearing masks reduce spread) and education. Eighty-nine youth indicated an interest in participating, with more than 45 4-H members from 15 counties across the state enrolling and completing the Virtual UC 4-H Epidemiology Project.
True to the 4-H experiential learning framework, and to address the research showing that teens are currently experiencing high levels of loneliness, the Project Leaders intentionally created a learning environment that included interactive, fun, challenging and social activities to foster a sense of connection. For example, youth learned about the benefits of wearing face masks with an activity where youth were challenged to blow a rolled up tissue from one to six feet away without a mask and then while wearing a mask. Their giggles did not mask the direct learning of how well a mask can contain one's breath.
After completing the UC 4-H Epidemiology Project, youth reported that they were more likely to wash their hands before food preparation (78.1%), after sneezing or coughing (56.2%), and after shopping in a public space (87.5%). The majority (84.4%) of youth also reported that they were more likely to wear a face mask when out in public, compared to before the project. When youth were asked what they learned from the project, one youth stated, “I learned why masks work, I learned how hand sanitizer works, and I learned how I can help my community.”
Youth reported not only improved health behaviors for themselves, but also reported being leaders in the health of their communities. Many of the young participants (62.5%) reported that they can definitely help control the spread of diseases and 71.9% could envision themselves getting involved in their local community to help slow the spread of disease. Following project participation, over half of all participants picture themselves choosing a career in medicine, public health, veterinary sciences or epidemiology. Participants of the UC 4-H Epidemiology Project have become advocates for health, with 75% reporting that they are discussing disease transmission and prevention with others.
Research shows that wearing masks and washing hands limits the spread of COVID-19 disease. In this way, these measured outcomes may contribute to improved health for all and the public value of promoting healthy people and communities.
The best part of the project was learning about how to protect myself and keep my family safe in these troubled times. - Youth participant
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