Health Advocacy Program
The Health Advocacy Program (HAP) is an activity-based curriculum to teach adolescents and adults with developmental disabilities how to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Twenty lessons, each approximately one hour in length, provide basic information for improving nutritional health and physical and emotional well-being. The curriculum emphasizes healthy eating, but it also includes lessons on exercise, relationships, sexuality, stress, high blood pressure, diabetes and depression. The ultimate goal of HAP is to teach participants how to be their own health advocates.
Health Advocacy Program
The Health Advocacy Program (HAP) is an activity-based curriculum to teach adolescents and adults with developmental disabilities how to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Twenty lessons, each approximately one hour in length, provide basic information for improving nutritional health and physical and emotional well-being. The curriculum emphasizes healthy eating, but it also includes lessons on exercise, relationships, sexuality, stress, high blood pressure, diabetes and depression. The ultimate goal of HAP is to teach participants how to be their own health advocates.
HAP lessons are objective-based, with step-by-step instructions, including teacher scripts. Copies of illustrated concept pages and student handouts can be printed out from the provided PDF. Also includes a staff training DVD showing HAP in action.
The Health Advocacy program was extensively field tested by the authors in New York City adult service agencies. Download a copy of these published research results here