2020
Youth Wellness Mapping
What makes youth happy and healthy from their own perspectives? During the first year of the Nashville Youth Design Team, students focused on interviewing their peers to find out. We believe that the composition of the community in which a young person grows up influences their entire identity.
PROGRAM
Nashville Youth Design Team
PROJECT FOCUS AREA
Built Environment Factors
ACADEMIC PARTNERS
Katy Morgan, PhD + Kayla Anderson, PhD Candidate
Learning About Built Environment Factors
There are 6 built environment factors that students learned how to identify: food resources, parks + open spaces, neighborhood identity, housing + community resources, transportation, and walkability.
Knowing about these factors allowed students to consider the current condition of these items in their neighborhood. They considered things like: are there parks in this 1-mile radius; are there more houses or apartment buildings; where can people get groceries; are there sidewalks and are they in good condition; what are the stores or physical features that make the neighborhood unique?
Once they answered those questions, they placed the landmarks on a map.
Connecting the Factors to Wellness
We gave students information on various factors of wellness, like mental, physical, and spiritual wellness and then we asked them, what do young people need to be “well”? They gave us varying responses, and then we asked them to connect those responses to specific wellness factors and specific built environment factors. Following this brainstorm, they interviewed nearly 200 youth and mapped the data.
Considering the relationship between the built environment and youth wellness, the goal is to be able to present this data to organizations and businesses that are interested in partnering on physical projects that could improve the quality of life for youth.
This year set the stage for longterm engagement.
What are youth saying about built environment factors that affect their wellness?
“I can't do anything because my parents always work.” - H.G. Hill Middle Student
"Charlotte Park supports my physical wellness because it has a big track to run and is very spacious." -Bellevue Middle Student
“I can't do anything because my parents always work.” - H.G. Hill Middle Student "Charlotte Park supports my physical wellness because it has a big track to run and is very spacious." -Bellevue Middle Student
"I spend most of the time outside in our back yard." -KIPP Middle Student
"Add a park near the school to let kids play and have fun." -H.G. Hill Middle Student
"I spend most of the time outside in our back yard." -KIPP Middle Student "Add a park near the school to let kids play and have fun." -H.G. Hill Middle Student
"I like to stay after school and talk with my other friends before I go home." -MLK Student
"Shelby Bottoms Nature Center & Greenway. I have been walking on these trails a few times, and I always have fun looking for deer, and following new paths." -McGavock High Student
"I like to stay after school and talk with my other friends before I go home." -MLK Student "Shelby Bottoms Nature Center & Greenway. I have been walking on these trails a few times, and I always have fun looking for deer, and following new paths." -McGavock High Student
"Add a bus stop on Rural Ave." -Big Picture Student
"Take away traffic from the school's street, people should go outside and walk around and not be scared of cars hitting them." -Franklin Road Student
"Add a bus stop on Rural Ave." -Big Picture Student "Take away traffic from the school's street, people should go outside and walk around and not be scared of cars hitting them." -Franklin Road Student
Becoming Experts
The Team split into 4 committees to become experts in order to guide the rest of the Design Team in that area.
The Research Action and Partnerships committees were oriented around becoming experts in collecting data and making community connections, respectively. The Partnerships committee organized monthly virtual meetings with civic, non-profit and community leaders to learn more about issues that face our built environment. Some of those leaders included Council Members Sharon Hurt and Colby Sledge, Walk Bike Nashville’s Communications + Advocacy Director, Lindsey Ganson, and Moody Nolan Senior Associate, Valarie Franklin.
The Mapping committee became experts in the mapping software, making sense of the data and deciding how to display it. Finally, the Youth Voice committee’s goal was to share the Team’s findings with the public.