Project Summary
This application is designed to launch an independent research career in community health services research that (a) supports
adult and youth resilience and well-being in historically disenfranchised communities; (b) harnesses, organizes, and shares
local knowledge and skills to build social capital among adults supporting youth in community settings; and (c) merges
methods and knowledge across disciplines (e.g., clinical, organizational, and community psychology) to understand the
individual, organizational, and community-level effects of workforce support. The proposed study brings peer-to-peer
workforce support to urban after-school programs and examines impacts on staff and youth resilience and well-being.
Family and community level stressors (e.g., poverty, discrimination, violence) can interfere with short and long-term youth
health and success.1-4 Adults in community programs can promote youth resilience5-6 via high quality adult-youth
interactions;10 however, high burnout and turnover, common to youth care work, can interfere with these interactions.14
Increased connectedness among teachers is associated with reduced burnout/turnover and increased positive interactions
with youth.15-16 We propose that peer-to-peer support among afterschool providers may offer a similar pathway to improving
youth and staff resilience/well-being via increased effectiveness with youth and connectedness among staff. We are
collaborating with Miami-Dade Parks and Recreation Fit2Lead after-school program serving middle school youth in 10
economically vulnerable and predominantly Black and Hispanic neighborhoods. The proposed Peer2Peer model includes
key opinion leader staff (KOLS, n=6), identified via sociometric interviews, co-facilitating monthly group trainings and
learning communities on socioemotional skills and community building. We will use a mixed method, iterative approach
combining staff (n=30) survey and focus group data regarding feasibility, barriers, and facilitators to promoting staff
effectiveness and connectedness (Specific Aim 1). We will examine mechanisms by which Peer2Peer impacts youth and
staff resilience/well-being via increased effectiveness and connectedness (Specific Aim 2), including: 1. changes in network
density and corresponding social capital following implementation of Peer2Peer; and 2. dissemination of empirically
supported recommendations based on network density and staff proximity in network to KOLS. We will conduct paired T-
tests to examine pre- to post- differences in staff effectiveness and connectedness, and thematic analyses of focus group
feedback to confirm and contextualize findings (Hypothesis 1). We will use multiple regression to examine associations
between (1) social network density and use of recommendations over time (Hypothesis 2); (2) staff effectiveness and youth
resilience/well-being (Hypothesis 3) and; (3) staff connectedness and staff resilience/well-being (Hypothesis 4). Primary
Sponsor Frazier will oversee Training Goal 2: Interdisciplinary theory and method to promote community, provider, and
youth resilience/well-being (with consultants Bruk-Lee and Nicolas). Co-sponsor Dr. Shernoff will oversee Training Goal
1: Social networks, social capital and peer-to-peer support to enhance effectiveness and connectedness (with consultants
Watling-Neal and Valente). This application will launch an independent research career in community health services
research examining workforce support to promote resilience and well-being in historically disenfranchised communities.