SALSA is a peer education and leadership program designed to motivate high school students in Western Sydney to maintain a healthy lifestyle and increase their physical activity. The award-winning project trains university students as SALSA educators, and they, in turn, coach high school students to be Peer Leaders for younger students. The program is run in partnership between the University of Sydney, Western Sydney Primary Health Network, Western Sydney Local Health District, medical practitioners and high schools in Western Sydney. Over the past 15 years, around 50,000 students have benefitted from the SALSA program.
“At a time when Western Sydney is experiencing a diabetes epidemic, the SALSA program’s ability to contact so many young lives and reach into families couldn’t be more significant.” – Dr Kean-Seng Lim
How Does the Program Work?
- SALSA Educators (university students) train Year-10 students as SALSA Peer Leaders in a one-day workshop. Peer Leaders learn to empower younger peers about eating healthier foods and being physically active
- SALSA Peer Leaders form teams to deliver lessons to Year 8 students using videos, games and activities. The four lessons cover: Simple Changes, Movement Matters, Food Choices and SALSA Actions
- All students are encouraged to create an individual SMART goal and design a School Action Plan
Success Stories
Rooty Hill High School
In Rooty Hill High School, where 25% of the students come from low-socioeconomic backgrounds, and 200 of the 1125 students have health plans for chronic poor health, the true impact of this program is being felt. In 2020, Rooty Hill High School successfully updated their school gym as part of its SALSA Youth Voices’ School Action Plan to increase physical activity or improve diet. The students used the learning from the SALSA program to identify that a decreased numbers of girls were physically active, develop a solution, and implement their plan. They successfully asked for funding from their Principal, ordered the equipment and renovated the space. The new gym has gender-neutral gym equipment and targeted female-only gym classes. The gym has provided students, particularly females, an extra opportunity to be physically active before school and during lunchtime gym classes.
Western Sydney High School
Thanks to the innovative projects being developed from the SALSA program, Western Sydney high school students are enjoying a healthier drink option and reducing their environmental footprint. SALSA participants developed the idea for water refill stations after bubblers were closed due to the risk of COVID-19 transmission. The students wanted to encourage others to choose water as a healthy beverage whilst decreasing the need to purchase plastic bottled water. These students are demonstrating the power of youth voice in advocating for healthy options for their peers and planet.
OAM for SALSA Founder
Dr Smita Shah, who initiated the SALSA program, was awarded an Order of Australia medal for her contributions to health care. Dr Shah, who is the Director of the Prevention Education and Research Unit at the Western Sydney Local Health District, and Clinical Professor at the Sydney Medical School’s Faculty of Medicine and Health, shared, “My best work, is the work I’ve done with the youth, motivating them to make a difference in their own health and wellbeing. Health habits are initiated in adolescence; to nudge them to adopt good practices now will see them grow into healthy adults as well as health-conscious future parents.”
Encourage Students
If you have families whose children could benefit from the SALSA program, reach out to Kym.RizzoLiu@health.nsw.gov.au to find out more information or visit: peru-programs.sydney.edu.au
8 June 2023