Reframing Public Health Through Narratives

TYPE 2 DIABETES • FOOD DESERTS • STRUCTURAL RACISM 

Problem

Type 2 Diabetes has been a continuous epidemic disproportionately impacting marginalized communities due to factors around environmental racism. The Bigger Picture asks, how can we teach our communities while at the same time shift the narrative and policy around this disease?

Data

Almost 25% of youth ages 12 – 19 have pre-diabetes and 50% of youth with pre-diabetes will get full-blown diabetes within five years. Ten years ago, only 9% of youth had pre-diabetes.

Solution

By combining the literary guidance of Youth Speaks with the nationally backed data of UCSF's Center for Vulnerable Populations, The Bigger Picture project developed curriculum, content, and tangible policy change to shift the culture of health disparities through art.

This platform was cross-positioned to highlight individual artists and to tag issues by topic and geography.

Stories

From corner store tales to cultural relationships about food, Bigger Picture artists created a vast variety of high quality science-backed critical content that focused on the environmental factors of Type 2 Diabetes. Youth Speaks designed and created a digital platform to amplify these stories for educators and audiences across the country to learn more about Type 2 Diabetes in a way that's never been taught before.

Outcomes

Youth Speaks poets and Dr. Dean Schillinger (UCSF Center for Vulnerable Populations) helped pass the City and County of San Francisco’s 2016 Sweet and Sugary Beverage Tax

Media

Research & Program Design Partnership