A skills based curricular approach to health education at the
Durham County Youth Home
Jesse Fitzpatrick1, Fumiko Chino MD1
1 Duke University School of Medicine
Project Rational
o MEDMentors is a student run DUSOM service organization that has been sending medical students to the
Durham County Youth Home (DCYH) since 2008
Implementation
o The DCYH serves as a detention facility for up to 16 juvenile offenders ranging in age from 10-17
o The core mission of MEDMentors is to provide relevant health education to DCYH residents
o Traditional didactic health education has been hindered by residents’ limited capacity to translate lessons into
daily habits of healthy living.
o During the 2013/2014 academic year, MEDMentors piloted a new curriculum where didactic lessons were
combined with hands-on cooking and exercise activities
A New Hands-on Curriculum
A new nutrition and fitness curriculum was designed around hands-on cooking and sporting activities. Each lesson
involved a small didactic lesson which supplemented the core activity.
Example Cooking Lesson
Nutrition Labels - Mac and Cheese
Example Fitness Lesson
o Students played soccer, basketball, kickball, volleyball,
badminton, and did yoga while learning about stretching, aerobic
exercise, heart rate, sportsmanship, and strength training
o Duke medical students volunteered over 200 hours
Purchased Supplies
(>$2000 value, inc. flood)
Conclusions
Aerobic Exercise - Basketball
Objective: Have kids be able to read and
understand a nutrition label and compare
brands based on nutrition, price, and taste.
Objective: Have students learn about
aerobic exercise, how to take a pulse,
and various basketball drills.
Discussion Lesson Plan:
• Hand out nutrition labels to all the residents
• What are nutrition labels?
• Where can you find them on foods?
• What sorts of information do they give you?
• Go through each component of the nutrition label and
discuss nutritional value (Calories, Fat, Sodium, Sugar, ect)
Discussion Lesson Plan:
• What is aerobic exercise?
• What sorts of activities qualify as aerobic exercise?
• Why is aerobic exercise beneficial?
• Show students how to take a pulse and have them practice
Cooking Activity
Have students split into groups and each make a different
type of mac & cheese (Kraft, Generic, Annie's, home-made)
• Have all student try each recipe
Home Made Recipe
• Have student write their recipe’s
5.6 oz of Elbow pasta
nutrition information and cost on the 2.8 Tablespoon unsalted
butter
white board
1 ¾ Tablespoon white flour
• Students discuss which recipe is
1 ½ Cup 2% milk
1 Cup grated cheddar cheese
superior based on cost, taste, and
salt and pepper to taste
nutrition
o Students cooked over 15 meals while learning about concepts
such as food groups, calories, nutrition labels, salt, ingredient
substitution, and budgeting
Physical Activity
Have students break into two groups and practice the following
drills. Between each drill have the students take their pulse and
determine whether it is in the aerobic range.
Dribbling Drill: Dribble in and out of a line of 7 cones set up
down the court.
Passing Drill: See figure above.
Shooting Drill: Have two lines of residents line up to the right
and left of the free throw line. Only one line shoots, while the
other line retrieves the ball after the shot and passes it to the
shooting line.
Game: With the remaining time play a basketball game.
Didactic health education works best when it accompanies a skills
based approach, particularly in at-risk populations who lack
exposure to cooking techniques and fitness habits.
Acknowledgements
This projection would not have been possible without the generous
support of the Duke Chancellor’s Service Fellowship.