Vital Youth: Evaluating a theatre in health education project

Theatre in education (TIE) has recently been advocated as an effective health education method with young people. However, evaluation findings to date have been mixed. Describes the evaluation of a TIE project involving 19 African and African-Caribbean young people in inner-city London. Project objectives included the development of social skills, performing arts skills and opportunities to learn about relevant health topics. The project consisted of workshop sessions culminating in performances at a local theatre. Contextual factors and stakeholder expectations encouraged the development of an innovatory evaluation workshop method. Findings suggested that the intervention was largely successful, with participants reporting opportunities to learn about and discuss relevant health-related topics, and enhanced social skills and confidence. The evaluation concluded that actively involving young people, addressing their concerns and using activities that engage them in productive group work processes, can be usefully applied whatever the resources available.