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Since the enactment of the Affordable Care Act (the health care law), advocates have been juggling two daunting tasks: advocating for robust implementation of the law, and educating the public about the provisions that will affect their everyday lives. While managing these tasks can be challenging, they actually go hand-in-hand. Ensuring successful implementation of the law will depend on the ability of the advocacy community to educate key audiences, such as young adults, about the beneficial provisions of the Affordable Care Act.

Young people can potentially benefit tremendously from the health care law. The provision that allows young adults up to age 26 to stay on or rejoin their parents’ health insurance is very popular, and this measure has already led more than 600,000 young adults to obtain health coverage. This provision clearly has caught the public’s attention, and it offers health care advocates an opportunity to engage young adults in the larger movement to achieve health care justice.

In an effort to assist state advocacy groups with tackling the unique challenges associated with organizing this demographic, we talked to experienced organizers to determine best practices and lessons they’d learned from engaging young adults. We spoke with state-based advocates, grassroots organizers, students, and national experts to better understand the world of youth organizing. This brief summarizes those interviews and offers the organizers’ best thinking.

 Framing the Issue
As with any demographic, you need to keep your audience in mind as you develop your approach to organizing young adults, and you need to think about developing messages that will resonate with them. Organizers we interviewed said that there were definitely challenges involved in engaging young people on health reform, but they also suggested several tips that will help you hone your message and develop an effective strategy to engage this important audience.

Organizing on Campus
On college campuses, students are already organized, which makes them ideal locations where you can find people to engage in your work. However, the number of opportunities for students on campus is enormous. The key question becomes: How do you engage students in your issue? Based on our interviews, there are several common strategies advocates can use to overcome this challenge.

Organizing off Campus
Organizing young people off campus presents a unique set of challenges and opportunities that are very different from on-campus work. On the one hand, it can be more difficult, since you are not working with defined and organized campus groups. On the other hand, it can be easier, because non-college youth often identify with the struggles of obtaining affordable health coverage in a more immediate way.

Reaching Young People through Media
Reaching young adults through traditional news sources is very difficult. According to a 2010 Pew Research Center Media Consumption Survey, only 23 percent of all Americans aged 18-29 read daily newspapers, and only 31 percent say they watch local news stations. Meanwhile, according to the same survey, 48 percent of young adults say they get their news online. The study also found that only 27 percent of people aged 18-29 say they enjoy following the news. Young adults are using fewer and fewer traditional news sources and relying more heavily on online sources for news. Because of this challenge, organizers emphasized the importance of thinking outside the box for media work.

Acknowledgements & Resources

Conclusion
Educating key audiences about the benefits they’ll get from the Affordable Care Act will be critical to building support for and ensuring robust implementation of the law. Because young adults stand to gain substantially from the law, advocates have an exciting opportunity to educate and engage them in the broader health care justice movement.

This brief summarized advice and lessons learned from seasoned youth organizers to help you better develop your young adult outreach and overcome the unique challenges of this work. We recognize that these efforts look different in every community. It is our hope that continued communication across the states will contribute to creating innovative and successful public education and engagement strategies in the future.

Get a Head Start on Back-to-School: Strategies for Engaging Young Adults
To help you prepare for college students’ return to school in the fall, we’ve listed some activities and ideas to engage young adults on campus.

Beat of the Month
This month’s featured theme song of the Beat is Bittersweet Symphony by The Verve.

Sharing Across the States: Strategies for Engaging Young Adults is our PDF version of this special edition State Health Beat. Feel free to print it out as a handy guide!

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