WED-096 - Youth as Tech Ambassadors: Helping Stroke Survivors Live Their Best Lives

Brief Abstract Summary: To learn about a community-academic research project that is rooted in reciprocity: youth contributed their digital and design expertise while gaining knowledge in stroke and caregiving, health, research, user-centered design, and advocacy during their 5-week summer camp. Ultimately, students designed step-by-step instructions for using Findhelp.org, a free online platform of local resources, and created motivational materials promoting healthy living and use of community resources. The program reached 19 youth and was found to be acceptable and feasible.

Detailed abstract description: Introduction
Community resources are available to stroke survivors, but are often underutilized, in part, due to barriers using technology. Recognizing that young people often serve as tech ambassadors in their households—the ones family members turn to when navigating phones or online tools—this project engaged young people as essential partners in improving stroke survivorship. By leveraging their natural digital fluency and creativity, youth were empowered to co-design culturally relevant, technology-driven tools that address stroke survivor and caregiver challenges to finding and navigating community resources.

Methods
This community-engaged research project is part of Advancing Community Connections and Calculating Risk to Optimize Stroke Survivorship (ACROSS)-- a community-academic partnership between Student Karma (a youth program within District Outreach Initiatives, a Chicago Public Schools partner) and the Northwestern Stroke Program.
The ACROSS Youth Ambassador curriculum was integrated into Student Karma’s 5-week summer program at a South Side Chicago school, drawing on resources from Digital Youth Network, Hip Hop Public Health, and Stroke Ready. Weekly 2-hour sessions were co-facilitated by community and academic teams. Sessions covered health behavior, motivation, living with a stroke, community resources (via findhelp.org), user-centered design, research, policy, and community activism. We applied the RE-AIM framework (Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation, and Maintenance) to guide evaluation of program delivery, participant engagement, and potential for real-world sustainability. The evaluation included program metrics and a post-program survey.

Results
An average of 15 students attended a program session. Students generated 24 strategies to motivate an older adult to stay healthy, 20 headline announcements for Findhelp.org, and 15 step-by-step guides about searching for and accessing resources on Findhelp.org. The post-program effectiveness and adoption survey was completed by 12 community partners and 8 academic partners. 13/14 respondents were satisfied or very satisfied with the program and all respondents were likely to recommend the program to other summer programs. Notable implementation barriers were time constraints, variable youth attendance, importance of tailoring activities to student interests, and adapting content to different environments and demographics. Plans are underway to implement the program again in Chicago and expand to Flint, Michigan.

Conclusion
We found that centering youth as design experts produced community-centered language and step-by-step instructions that underscore the value of centering youth in tech-based health solutions. The program reached youth, partners found it acceptable, and implementation barriers are addressable. The project highlights how intergenerational collaboration can co-create solutions that bridge digital divides and make health resources more accessible.