I Sing the Body Electric: Description of an Innovative Health Promotion and Fine Arts Program for Adolescents

I Sing the Body Electric (BODY ELECTRIC) is a fine arts and health promotion program that supports communication of healthy lifestyle choices among youth. BODY ELECTRIC connects youth in 27 high schools with health and education communities in the largest rural geographic education region in a Midwestern state. The three-phase prevention plan designed to increase resiliency and reduce risk behaviors among adolescents begins with biennial regional administration of the Youth Risk Behavior Survey, with added questions designed to identifying the top health concerns of area youth. In the second phase, these health concerns are crafted into prevention messages by youth, using the arts as a medium of expression. University interns, local artists, and community health and prevention professionals mentor the students with their project ideas. On completion, students present their work at the biennial BODY ELECTRIC Arts and Health Festival. A comprehensive media plan forms the third phase of the program, featuring a prevention communication network of original broadcast programming that links student messages to a wider community. A region-wide tour of the arts/prevention project collection is delivered to schools and communities in the area providing another venue for the student-produced arts and health messages. Preliminary evaluation data were included to show the success of the program. (Contains 6 tables.)