WCVB Channel 5: “Youth Researchers Focus on Public Health,” with Prof. Sprague Martinez
Emily Riemer from WCVB Channel 5 interviews BUSSW associate professor Linda Sprague Martinez and a young participant about their research empowering Boston-area adolescents to investigate health and well-being in their own communities.
Excerpted from “Youth researchers focus on public health in Boston neighborhoods”:
“Young people are very well aware of social factors that influence their health,” said Linda Sprague Martinez, assistant professor and chair of macro practice at the Boston University School of Social Work. She was also an adult facilitator on the research.
She said it’s critical to include youth voices when making health policy.
“Young people experience things differently than we do as adults, but the way that all of our systems and organizations are set up, they give preference to adults. If they’re not at the table thinking about the solutions, then the solutions aren’t going to be relevant,” Sprague Martinez said.