Engaging Young People as Agents of Change: A Primary School Educational Intervention to Decrease Arboviral and Protozoal Risk in Grenada

Grenada (September 2022 – June 2023)



Project Description

The Our Voice team aimed to educate the youth of Grenada on arboviral and fecal-orally transmitted diseases in their communities. In order to execute this, the team administered their intervention and questionnaires to grade 4 elementary aged school students in Grenada. 

53 public schools were randomly assigned to either control schools or case schools. Case schools were then stratified into two groups; one case group was given an interactive PowerPoint presentation with demonstrations, and the other case group was given the same presentation with an additional Our Voice data collection. This collection entailed using the Discovery Tool to gather geotagged photographic data. This data also included narrative data alongside ratings of the features that facilitate mosquito disease transmission or limit mosquito disease transmission. The key objective was to discover the effects of infectious disease education on the transmission of disease amongst school children, comparing an educational intervention alone to education combined with the Our Voice citizen science process.

Guiding Question 

What aspects of your school’s environment makes it easy or hard to prevent arboviral and protozoal diseases (such as Zika and dengue) transmitted by mosquitoes?

Insights:

Across 53 public schools, grade 4 elementary-aged students in Grenada collected 329 photos, 135 rated good and 194 rated bad for the environment, and recorded 309 audio comments. Students reviewed collected data and categorized them into strengths and areas for improvement:

Strengths Identified

  • Covered buckets to limit mosquito population growth
  • Clean grounds
  • Repurposed tires

Identified Areas for Improvement

  • Uncovered buckets that allowed for mosquito population growth
  • Still water collecting on the ground
  • Trash

Strategies and solutions identified by citizen scientists based on the identified areas of improvment and strengths include:

  • Cover trash cans
  • Clean gutterings
  • Clean drains

Activities

  • Create posters to inform friends and family of actionable steps
  • Spread awareness through social media platforms like YouTube
  • Reach a wide ranging audience through newspaper articles in their area
  • Advocating for adults and community members to begin disease-preventing practices by informing them about how arboviral and protozoan disease is spread

 

Outcomes

Following the interventions, the case groups showed about a 14.8% increase in disease knowledge, a 9.0% increase in attitudes, and a 19.0% increase in arboviral and protozoan disease prevention practices. These increases were shown to be maintained both at the 3-month and 6-month follow up surveys.

Although the control groups did also show a 9.8% increase in arboviral and protozoan disease attitudes and a 12.3% increase in disease prevention practices, they demonstrated a 4.8% decrease in actual disease knowledge. These findings highlight the impact of the Our Voice method with interactive demonstrations on citizen science comprehension and significance behind their disease prevention practices.

Also, following the project’s increased awareness of arboviral and protozoan disease, the vector abundance of both case and control was reduced. A reduction that was sustained in the case schools at both 3-month and 6-month follow ups.

Overall, introducing education interventions can provide opportunities for the youth to serve as agents of change within their own communities to limit disease transmission.

People and Collaborators

Project Lead(s):

Our Voice & Stanford Leaders:

WINDREF at St. George’s University Leaders: 

  • Nikita Cudjoe, Basil Williams, Markeda Fletcher, Sarah Telesford, Arani Thirunavukarasu, Lashawnd Johnson, Calum Macpherson, Trevor Noël

Associated Publications

Bayrau, B., Williams, B., Cudjoe, N., Fletcher, M., & Banchoff, A. (2022). Engaging Youths as Agents of Change. Windward Islands Research & Education Foundation 2022 Annual Report. p. 20 – 24 https://www.windref.gd/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/WINDREF-Annual-Report-2022.pdf

Bayrau, B. (2023, June 6). From Parachute Science to Community Engagement and Advocacy. Global Health NOW. https://globalhealthnow.org/2023-06/parachute-science-community-engagement-and-advocacy  

Funding Source(s):

  • Our Voice: Citizen Science for Health Equity

  • LaBeaud Lab team at Stanford

  • Seed grant from Center for Innovation in Global Health

Point of Contact for More Information:


Our Voice Impact

"This experience has changed my life.  I see inadequacies everywhere I go as it relates to pedestrian access and safety.  I even stop [at] construction sites to remind them to be considerate of the handicapped in our community.  Thank you all so much for this awareness and empowerment to require change."

~ Pam Jiner, GirlTrek Advocacy Leader, Denver CO