Imagine trying to get teens to exercise by having adults tell them what to do; it rarely works. Instead, this project lets the teenagers themselves design the activities and spaces they actually enjoy. By giving them the steering wheel, it makes healthy habits stick and prevents serious long-term illnesses.
Traditional health interventions for teens fail because they are top-down and ignore the social needs of youth. This leads to low adoption and a continuing rise in expensive chronic diseases.
An open access YoPAAPE toolbox and a system for teen-led co-creation of health interventions.
If you are a city design firm dealing with underused public spaces in low-income areas — this project developed a co-creation method that ensures physical environments actually attract teenagers. This leads to higher usage rates of public infrastructure and better community health outcomes.
If you are a health app developer dealing with low engagement among 12-18 year olds — this project developed a toolkit for teen-centered design. This helps you build features that focus on social interaction and fun rather than just medical guidelines.
If you are a healthcare provider dealing with the rising cost of non-communicable diseases — this project developed a preventive action approach. By implementing these tailored interventions, you can reduce the long-term burden of chronic illness in vulnerable populations.
Based on available project data, specific pricing for the toolkit is not provided, though the project received an EU contribution of EUR 3,281,100 for development.
The project is designed for scalability across different economic contexts, having been tested in both high-income countries (NL, DK) and low-to-middle-income countries (ZA, NG).
The results will be integrated into an open access toolbox, suggesting a non-proprietary, open-sharing model for researchers and practitioners.
It is designed to be used by public health practitioners and authorities to bridge the gap between adult-driven guidelines and the actual lived experience of youth.
The project period runs from 2023-01-01 to 2027-12-31, indicating that full results and the toolbox will be available toward the end of 2027.
The consortium consists of 10 partners across 6 countries, showing a strong international reach. It is heavily weighted toward research and academia (4 universities and 3 research organizations), with a low industry ratio of 10% (1 industry partner and 2 SMEs). This suggests the output is currently more focused on scientific validation than immediate commercial productization.
Contact Stichting Amsterdam UMC in the Netherlands
Contact us to get early access to the YoPAAPE toolbox for your urban design or health project.
