Youth Voice Scoping Review: Alignment and Recommendations for an Adolescent Male-Specific Healthy Living Program

Résumé

We undertook a scoping review to find main themes in peer-reviewed literature on bringing youth voice into youth programming across multiple contexts, with the aim of using these themes as recommendations for those considering youth programming or already involved in youth programming. We then assessed the youth voice component of GuysWork, an adolescent male-specific healthy-living program in Nova Scotia’s schools. This assessment served as an example of how the recommendations can be applied to current programming for youth. Twenty-nine articles were included after screening. Data were extracted for descriptive statistics and thematic analysis was used to synthesize data into recommendations. The four main recommendations included 1. Youth voice should take place in environments of equal power and respect, 2. Youth voice should be open, meaningful, and ongoing, 3. Youth voice requires fostering a safe, trustworthy, supportive environment, and 4. Curricula should be consistently created and delivered with youth involvement. These recommendations can be used to design and sustain youth programming with and for youth.