Youth Engagement (YE) is an approach to prevention in which prevention organizations effectively engage youth as leaders or partners in planning, tailoring, implementing, or evaluating prevention programming. In this webinar, Dr. Ballard will describe different models of YE for prevention, share tips for YE, and provide tools to guide members of the substance misuse prevention workforce through decisions about whether, and how, to incorporate YE into their prevention work.
Dr. Ballard is an Assistant Professor of Family & Community Medicine in the Wake Forest School of Medicine. Her research focuses on understanding how young people engage with their communities, increasing equitable and meaningful opportunities for youth voice in communities, and understanding how youth engagement can improve community efforts and promote healthy youth development. In one current project, funded by the National Institute of Drug Abuse, she applies ideas from developmental psychology to increase opportunities for youth voice in substance misuse prevention efforts. In another current project, funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, she is co-leading a randomized-controlled trial study to understand the effects of a school-based action civics intervention. Outside of work, Parissa spends time exploring mountains, creeks, and playgrounds around North Carolina, with her husband and four young kids.
