Social Determinants of Health
This year at Girls Light Our Way (Peoria, IL), we have decided to use age-appropriate and activities-based learning as a mechanism to teach girls in GLOW about the social determinants of health; “The conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work and age. These circumstances are shaped by the distribution of money, power, and resources at national and local levels. They are mostly responsible for health inequities – the unfair and avoidable differences in health status seen within our country.” We will teach how these factors impact a wide range of health, functioning, and quality-of-life outcomes and risks. Once taught, we will use digital citizenship as their tool for action, voice, and self-advocacy. The goals are to ensure The GLOW Girls become good digital citizens and to help them develop the necessary technical skills to advance in their life/careers. The objectives include:
To incorporate each of the 12 social determinants of health using age-based activities, which include:
• Economy • Employment • Education • Political • Environmental • Housing • Medical • Governmental • Public Health • Psychosocial • Behavioral • Transportation
To have the girls successfully complete the Geek Squad Academy, a two-day camp experience during which GLOW will focus on digital music and electronics-based expression of voice.
To have the girls successfully complete the Common-Sense Education, Digital Citizenship Curriculum, a 6-week program designed to “prepare students to take ownership of their digital lives.” The curriculum covers media balance and well-being, privacy and security, digital footprint and identity, relationships and communication, cyberbullying, digital drama and hate speech, news and media literacy.
To continue GLOW STEAM, introducing the girls to Girls Who Code, which focuses “not only on gender diversity but also on young women who are historically underrepresented in computer science fields.”
To introduce the girls to iSTEAM and NSBE Jr., which “provides activities to help students discover firsthand how engineering and technology relate to the world around them and discover the excitement of academic excellence, leadership, technical development and teamwork. Mentoring is also a major part of our K-12 programs.”
To introduce the girls to other resources within the community to augment their opportunity to demonstrate and build their digital literacy.
Funds from AHEI will be used to support the programming for Social Determinants of Health.