Program ModelsInfórmate Teen Health Program
Farmworker teens face the pressures of adolescence compounded by constant mobility, isolation, poverty, high dropout rates, dangerous work and early childbearing. Infórmate literally means, "inform yourself," and the program trains and supports teens as peer health educators and advocates called Teen Health Aides. They provide health education, peer support and fun, healthy activities in their labor camps and rural communities, including border communities. These activities include games, contests, bilingual newsletters, one-on-one health education and most prominently, the Infórmate Teen Theater Troupe. Infórmate focuses on HIV/AIDS prevention, substance abuse prevention, leadership, community building and related issues.
"I am able to help people out when they have nowhere else to go or nobody else to talk to."
-Teen Health Aide
Results
Seventy-four percent of the farmworker teens participating in Michigan Infórmate activities reported an increase in health behaviors likely to prevent HIV infection or substance abuse.
LEARN MORE about how our programs are improving health outcomes.
Materials
Migrant Health Promotion offers free and low-cost materials and tools designed to support Infórmate Programs.
Infórmate Implementation Guide
Profile
Awards
- Best Model Project for a Populations of Color Grant, sponsored by the Prevention Network
- Lifetime Achievement Award, sponsored by the Prevention Network
View a complete list of Migrant Health Promotion's Awards & Honors.
A Story from the Program
The Infórmate Theater Troupe performed its original play about substance abuse and HIV prevention at a camp in Michigan it had not previously visited. After the performance, a teen girl approached one of the Teen Health Aides and quietly asked her for some information about HIV, pregnancy and birth control. Just a few months earlier, this first-year Teen Health Aide did not know the answers to the basic questions now posed by this audience member. Using the information she learned in training, the Teen Health Aide provided information and health materials to the girl in a sensitive, understanding and confidential way. The Teen Health Aide's sense of pride and accomplishment were evident in a grin that lit up the room! She had successfully helped another person through her own learning and work.
