Positive Youth Development for Health: Extension\u27s Readiness for Multilevel Public Health Approaches

Positive youth development for health is one of six priority areas identified in Cooperative Extension\u27s National Framework for Health and Wellness. The objectives for this priority area target both individual- and community-level change. An assessment of Extension professionals\u27 readiness to integrate community-level policy, systems, and environment change approaches into youth development efforts indicated various levels of familiarity with and willingness to implement multilevel strategies. Using these findings and the transtheoretical model as the organizing framework, we make recommendations for advancing Extension professionals\u27 readiness to implement changes that make healthful options more available and accessible and help create a culture of youth health