The most recent state-by-state report from America's Health Rankings places Arkansas 49th when it comes to overall children's and women's health, and Mississippi 48th. Mississippi's ranking rose from 50th in the last two years. Arkansas remains steady at 49th. Both states have struggled with health access and information for years, if not decades.
The nonprofit Teen Health Mississippi is geared toward improving health and health conversations for people in that state and is now doing the same here with Teen Health Arkansas. Hope Crenshaw, Ph.D., executive director of Teen Health Mississippi and Teen Health Arkansas, says a major component is to provide information and resources for young people to protect their health.
"And not just young people themselves, but the parents in their lives, the guardians and trusted adults in their lives. Because what we know is that it's the parent-child connection — or the parent, adult, trusted adult connection — that really pushes youth health outcomes forward in positive, proactive ways. And that's what all the research shows. And that's what we're actually seeing on the ground."
First steps in Arkansas include Teen Talk sessions. The first were in Eudora and Brinkley, and the very first was at New Bethel Church in West Memphis. Ursula Weems, a member of that church, says her pastor heard about the sessions and thought they should host one.
"When you think about the church growing up, you didn't talk about being protected from — about sex — in the church. You didn't talk about mental health in the church. But it made us question, why not? Why aren't we talking about this at the church? The church is supposed to be the place you come for healing and to be saved. So why not talk about this with our youth? And why not, as parents in the church, say, 'Hey, we don't know this, but let's get somebody who can.'"
Ursula says she didn't realize she would be asked to help facilitate the session that night. That would include some uncomfortable conversations about sexual reproduction, mental health and general well-being. She says she wondered: why me?
"Then I thought about the stuff that I did as a teen — like being raised in a Baptist church in the country. How my life could have been different had I had this information. And now I finally got the answer to the question I've been asking for the last two years. Why me? Because I went through some things, and I know had I had this information back then, it could have changed some perspective and what I did growing up. Not saying it was bad, but I didn't sign up to be a teen mom. I didn't sign up for the sexual abuse, the mental health issues — but it's all a part of my story. And having the resources to tackle those tough things would have made a difference."
Who better, she says, to tell and listen to stories surrounding these matters than those with lived experience?
Hope Crenshaw, executive director of the Teen Health organizations, says these sessions are constructed to have youth and adults as co-collaborators and do not treat young people as part of the problem. Teens are voting members of the boards of directors, and adults are given information to empower them to have discussions — even if awkward — about issues regarding teen health.
"Tough talks, but tough talks with confidence and with factual, medically accurate information to make sure that we can push health forward."
She says adults and teens can learn together that misconceptions, misunderstandings and misbeliefs are often shared, and that lack of access to information can be intergenerational — as can the desire for knowledge.
"You had grandparents at the table. You had parents with young people at the table, and the parents would say, 'Yes, this is what my parents taught me. My parents taught me that you should always keep a quarter — or an aspirin — between your knees. Because that way nothing gets in, nothing comes out. You don't get pregnant. And we saw grandparents say, 'That was because that was all that we knew at the time.' But now that there is more information and more resources available, our young people, my grandchildren actually need this information, and you need this information, and I need this information. I wish I had this information. And so what we're building here are community conversations grounded in trust."
Teen Health Arkansas is concerned with young people's general well-being — sexual and reproductive health, relationship health, mental health, or just knowing how to talk to your doctor about a range of topics, Crenshaw says It's really about giving more people agency — young people agency — to seek information about their own health, and adults confidence to talk to young people. She says, the more people with agency, the better the state.
Facilitators are provided training for handling these sessions, and Ursula Weems, who helped facilitate that first session in West Memphis, says this might represent a tone shift in conversations, but trust and honesty matter.
"We're not going to agree. We might frown a little bit, but we're not going to throw you out. Be totally honest with us — rather than going to Facebook and getting information that's incorrect."
Crenshaw added: "One of the pieces in the adult piece of that is that we talk about open and closed communication — the difference between saying, 'You better not be having sex,' versus, 'If you decide that this is what you want to do, please come to me so we can get the resources that you need.' My value is that I want you to remain abstinent until marriage — however, there's a difference in that language, in that communication. So when young people come to adults, they're met with open language."
Lifting two states that have traditionally been among the very lowest when it comes to health rankings will take work. But as Ursula puts it:
"If we don't do it, who will? If everybody has that same mindset, it's never going to change. Prove them wrong. Be the change they say can't happen. If we don't do it — we're going to do it."
The work of Teen Health Arkansas is extending beyond these Teen Talk sessions. There will also be workforce development sessions to improve communication between young people and employers, a mental health first aid series for both young people and adults, and Crenshaw says there will be one-day micro youth summits to foster advocacy.
"In Mississippi, our young people are working on legislation. They're writing legislation. They just got something through the House on violence reform, and it is in the Senate right now. We want to bring that same energy to Arkansas and have young people be at the forefront of change. We're teaching them how to advocate at the school district level, how to advocate at the community level, ultimately at the state level as well."
Ursula Weems says the first Teen Talk sessions are an encouraging opening to a path forward for health and for greater community. She says having a session at New Bethel Church in West Memphis was very important.
"We're located in that area where people say, 'Hey, I'm not going to go to that area, especially at night.' But when we're in that area, I see people that look like me. I see people that have similar stories to me. And when I say that, I'm not just talking about African Americans — I see people whose situations are the same situations I grew up in. I see people that want help but don't know where to go or how to ask. Sometimes the question doesn't get asked because we don't know how to ask the questions.
"So for me, if we don't do it, who will? I see the young ladies who deal with life issues. I see the young men that have been counted out. I see the ones that are feeling like nobody cares. Because if they care, why aren't they here? If they care, why aren't they showing up for us? They show up when we do bad stuff, but why aren't they showing up to help? Yeah, it's a rough neighborhood, but everybody deserves the same resources. Everybody deserves the same connections."
More information about Teen Health Arkansas can be found at teenhealthar.org.
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