Country of Residence
Nigeria
Age
18
Project title
Know it before it's an emergency
Project Summary: Describe your project in one sentence
Know Before It’s an Emergency is a youth-led health-literacy initiative that equips young people to recognize important health warning signs, identify reliable information, and know when and where to seek professional help. Through trained Youth Health Champions, the project will turn young people into peer educators who share accurate, practical health information with their schools, families, and communities.
Website URL(s) or social media handles.
Project Category
My project is a brand new / emerging idea
Project Stage
Idea (We’re hoping to get started in the future)
Founding Story: What was the spark that led you to start your project? What was the "Aha!" moment that led you to get started and see the potential for this to succeed?
My interest in this project grew from my experience as a young person studying nursing and learning how quickly a health problem can become more serious when warning signs are missed or misunderstood. I began thinking about how often people know that something is wrong but do not know what information to trust, what signs should concern them, or when they should seek professional help. I also noticed how much young people depend on friends, family members and social media when they have health questions. Sometimes the information is helpful, but sometimes it is incomplete, misleading or based on personal experiences rather than reliable health knowledge. This made me realize that simply telling young people to “be informed” is not enough. They need practical knowledge and the confidence to act appropriately. My “aha” moment was realizing that young people could be part of the solution, not just the audience for another health campaign. If young people are equipped with accurate, understandable health information, they can take that knowledge into their schools, families, friendships and communities. That idea became Know Before It’s an Emergency: a project that aims to turn young people into health-literacy changemakers who can recognize important warning signs, question unreliable information, and encourage appropriate professional help-seeking before preventable situations
The Problem: What problem are you helping to solve? Why does it matter to you and your community?
Health information is everywhere, but access to reliable and understandable health knowledge is not equal. Young people encounter symptoms, health claims and medical advice through social media, friends, family members and other informal sources, yet many may not know which information to trust or which warning signs should not be ignored. The problem is therefore bigger than simply “not having information.” There is a gap between receiving health information and knowing how to interpret it and respond appropriately. A young person may recognize that they feel unwell but search online for answers, rely on advice from friends, self-medicate, or delay seeking professional care because they do not understand the seriousness of certain warning signs. This matters to me because young people should have the knowledge and confidence to make safer decisions about their health and to encourage others to do the same. It also matters to communities because health knowledge does not stay with one person. What a young person learns can influence their siblings, friends, parents and wider community. I want to address this gap by making young people active participants in health education rather than passive recipients of information.
Your Solution: How are you solving this problem? Share your specific solution.
Know Before It’s an Emergency will build a network of young people who can share accurate, practical health information with their peers, families and communities. The project will begin with a listening phase. I will speak with young people to identify common health misconceptions, questions and areas where they struggle to recognize warning signs or know when professional help is needed. This will help ensure that the project responds to real information gaps rather than assuming what young people need. I will then recruit and train a small group of Youth Health Champions. They will receive simple, age-appropriate learning materials covering topics such as recognizing important warning signs, identifying reliable health information, avoiding harmful myths and understanding when to seek professional medical attention. The project will emphasize health education, not diagnosis or treatment. Youth Health Champions will then take what they learn into their own networks through peer discussions, school or youth-group sessions, community conversations and digital content. Instead of relying on one person to educate everyone, the project creates a multiplier effect: trained young people help other young people become better informed. I will measure progress through the number of Youth Health Champions trained, educational sessions conducted and people reached, as well as simple pre- and post-session questions to assess changes in knowledge and warning-sign recognition. As the project develops, I hope to work with health professionals, schools, youth organizations and community partners to improve the materials, expand the network and make the approach sustainable.
Impact: How has your project created impact / made a difference so far? Or, if at an early stage, what will impact look like?
This project is currently at the idea stage, so I have not yet begun formal implementation or reached participants. My intended impact is to improve young people's ability to recognize important health warning signs, identify reliable information and understand when professional help should be sought. In the pilot phase, I hope to recruit and train a small group of Youth Health Champions who can reach other young people through peer education, community conversations and digital communication. I will measure the project through indicators such as the number of young people trained, sessions conducted and people reached, alongside changes in participants' knowledge before and after learning sessions. The longer-term impact I envision is a growing network of young people who are confident enough to share accurate health information within their own communities. Rather than creating a campaign that ends when the organizers stop posting, I want to develop young people who can continue communicating and multiplying what they learn. I believe this approach can work because young people already influence the information their peers consume. The project seeks to make that influence more accurate, responsible and useful.
Your Innovation: What is different about your project compared to other programs or solutions already out there? How is your project new or innovative?
Health-awareness campaigns already exist, but Know Before It’s an Emergency approaches the problem differently. Instead of treating young people mainly as an audience that receives health information, the project treats them as potential health-literacy leaders. The central idea is simple: don't just educate young people; equip them to educate others. The project uses a peer-to-peer model in which a small group of Youth Health Champions receives reliable, practical information and communication skills and then shares that knowledge through their existing networks. This creates a multiplier effect. One trained young person can potentially influence friends, classmates, family members and other community members rather than information reaching only the people who attend a formal health campaign. The project also focuses on the gap between knowing information and knowing what to do with it. Instead of overwhelming young people with medical facts, the learning materials will focus on practical questions: What should I look out for? What information can I trust? When should I stop relying on online or informal advice? When should I seek professional help? Digital communication will complement face-to-face peer education, allowing the project to adapt health-literacy messages to the way young people already communicate and consume information. The model is intentionally designed to be simple, low-cost and adaptable. It can begin with a small pilot and improve based on feedback before expanding to more schools, youth groups and communities.
How many people are on your team?
1
Your team: What role(s) do your team members play? How do you share leadership with them?
I am currently the sole founder of the project and will lead its development and coordination. As the idea moves toward implementation, I plan to build a small youth-led team including Youth Health Champions, a communications/digital-content lead, and young people who can support community outreach. I also hope to seek guidance from qualified health professionals to ensure that educational materials are accurate and responsible.
What’s Next: What are the next steps you plan to take to grow or strengthen your project over the next year? If your project is still in the idea stage, describe the steps you will take over the next three months to launch or begin developing it.
Over the next three months, I will focus on turning Know Before It’s an Emergency from an idea into a practical pilot. First, I will speak with young people to understand the health questions, misconceptions and warning signs they find difficult to recognize. I will also seek guidance from qualified health professionals to ensure that the information we develop is accurate, age-appropriate and responsible. Next, I will develop simple educational materials and a basic training guide for Youth Health Champions. I will begin recruiting a small group of young people who are interested in health, communication and community service and involve them in shaping the pilot. I will then identify a suitable school, youth group or community setting for the first pilot and conduct initial peer-education sessions. I will collect feedback and use simple pre- and post-session questions to understand whether participants' knowledge and confidence have improved. Over the following year, I hope to strengthen the model, grow the Youth Health Champion network, build partnerships with schools, youth organizations and health professionals, and expand the project to additional communities. My goal is to develop a simple model that can be adapted and repeated rather than creating a one-time awareness campaign.
How do you encourage other people to join your project or learn about the problem you’re working on? If you have a new idea, tell us how you will do this in the future.
Because the project is still at the idea stage, I have not yet formally recruited participants. My approach to engaging others will be to make young people part of the project rather than simply asking them to listen to another awareness campaign. I will invite young people to become Youth Health Champions by showing them how the skills they gain can be useful in their everyday lives and communities. They will learn how to recognize important warning signs, evaluate health information and communicate reliable information responsibly. They will also have opportunities to lead peer discussions and create digital content, giving them an active role in the project. I will use schools, youth groups, social media and existing community networks to introduce the project and invite interested young people to participate. I also plan to work with health professionals who can provide guidance and help build trust in the information being shared. Most importantly, I want participants to feel that they are contributors, not just beneficiaries. As the project grows, Youth Health Champions will be encouraged to suggest topics, identify problems in their communities and take leadership of activities. In this way, each new participant can become someone who brings others into the movement.
