Strategies of youth engagement in health promotion: listening sessions, task force participation, surveys and other strategies.

This article examines youth engagement strategies employed by 28 rural U.S. school districts during a strategic planning process to develop Comprehensive Health and Wellness Plans (CHWPs) aligned with the Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child (WSCC) model. The primary strategies analyzed include listening sessions, anonymous surveys, student inclusion on district-level task forces, and other innovative methods such as mobile interviewing. School personnel reported that these strategies varied in effectiveness and highlighted the importance of building trust, ensuring equitable representation of diverse student voices, and using multiple complementary engagement approaches. The study underscores both the potential benefits and challenges of involving youth as active participants in school health promotion efforts, while emphasizing the need for ongoing research to refine and evaluate youth engagement practices.