CDPHP Announcement - Alaska YRBS - Thank you, partners!

Thank you, partners of the Alaska Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS)!

Thank you for partnering with us. We are preparing for the next Alaska Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) but taking a moment to thank you — our community partners — for supporting the 2019 YRBS. Your work ensured that we heard from Alaska high school students. Community partners help us collect important data on adolescent health and social behaviors. Organizations throughout the state use these data to serve the needs of Alaska youth.

We value your support. In 2019, public, private, and tribal organizations made financial contributions enhancing our support of participating school districts. Many organizations also worked with districts to promote the survey and collect parental permission forms. Thanks to the hard work of our partners in education, over 7,000 Alaska students participated in the YRBS. We will be able to provide statewide and, in some cases, school-district-level results in spring 2020.

YRBS data are important to Alaska. These data help school districts, schools, communities, and public and private organizations set health promotion goals, develop policies and programs that promote health, and provide evidence to support funding for programs that meet the needs of Alaska youth.

Partners have a long history of supporting YRBS success. After not having obtained weighted data in 2005, community partners took action in preparation for the next YRBS. Partners provided information to local communities about the importance of the survey and increased outreach to schools throughout Alaska; these efforts delivered weighted data in 2007. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recognized our efforts and highlighted our partnerships as key to the survey’s success that year. 

Community partnerships continue to grow. More than 10 years later, we continue to build on the success of the 2007 YRBS, and our community partnerships continue to grow. In 2019, community partners provided input on and reviewed the YRBS questionnaire, raised awareness about the importance of the survey and data, provided outreach to schools, and helped produce our new YRBS video highlighting how partners use YRBS data.

Share your stories. Hearing from you helps us communicate Alaska’s successes. By sharing what you have learned about survey administration or how YRBS data supported your work, you can help other YRBS partners. Please share your stories, lessons, or questions with us at YRBS@alaska.gov so we may continue to learn from one another!

..................................

For more information about the Alaska Youth Risk Behavior Survey visit our website: 
dhss.alaska.gov/dph/Chronic/Pages/yrbs/yrbs.aspx

---

Visit Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion for more information about the section and our mission to identify and advance the conditions that lead to safe and healthy lives for Alaskans.

You are subscribed to Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion Announcements for Alaska DHSS.