The World Health Organization, in conjunction with UNICEF and UNFPA, recognizes the need for innovative approaches to addressing adolescent health.  Health behaviors that begin during adolescence often become the health behaviors of adulthood, yet many questions remain about how health promotion efforts can be more effective. There is a growing recognition within the adolescent health literature, that in order to better address the health of adolescents, a collaborative effort with adolescents themselves is required.  Research is needed which will assist in understanding the underlying beliefs and health practices of adolescents and how parents and other adults can best support and nurture the adolescent's health and well-being. 

For this presentation, results from a Community-based Collaborative Action Research (CBCAR) project in which adolescents were engaged in a dialogue about what they (the adolescents) want and need from the significant adults in their lives and, how adults can best nurture the health and well-being of young people within their community.  Interviews and focus groups were held with individuals between the ages of 15-18 who demographically represent this multiethnic community where health disparities are some of the greatest in the nation.  Once identifiers were stripped from transcripts, the data was taken to the larger community where the researchers and community members engaged in a dialogue to identify patterns and interpret the meaning of the findings. Following this dialogue, the findings were woven into hip-hop recordings and brought back to the community to stimulate discussion and facilitate action planning. Data from this study provides an understanding of how adolescents of color within one community experience health, as well as provides insight into how adolescents think about health, what they perceive they need to be healthy and whom they identify as significant in nurturing their health.