All of Us is a groundbreaking precision medicine research initiative sponsored by the National Institute of Health and funded by Congress. The All of Us Youth Advocacy Project was organized by Hummingbird Community Outreach, a 501 c(3) non-profit organization, with the support of the Light and Salt Association. The All of Us Research Program invites one million people across the U.S. to help build one of history’s most diverse health databases. However, the challenge is that Asian American participation rate is way too low compared with the Asian population percentage in the U.S. After hearing this, we not only decided to promote the research program by engaging our youth volunteers in advocating the All of Us program and educating the public about the benefits of this vital research but also our goal was to reduce the gap between different ethnic groups in the database.
The members started the day by learning more about the National Institute of Science’s All of Us research program via Zoom Meetings and slideshows. After feeling confident about the topic, our members initiated educating people and getting participants, even acting immediately by talking to their neighbors and family members and contacting Asian American they know who is over 18 years and living in the U.S.
To reach more of the public, we immediately scheduled a promotion session at our local library and nearby areas. On the afternoon of July 22nd, our members gathered at East Brunswick Public Library. We divided into a few groups; some stayed inside the library, some went to the park in front of the library, and others went to the nearby local community garden. When we met adults, our members proudly explained the All of Us research program, providing all the benefits and aid each participant can bring to the table by participating in the research, and then invited adults to watch the introduction video. Many adults watched the All of Us introduction video and signed up with their names and email addresses. As our way of thanking them for taking the time to listen to our members, we offered bags of chips or candies as a bonus.
In the end, with online 1:1 advocation, our members collectively received 50 participants who willingly signed up for the research program, and we successfully promoted the All of Us research program to the East Brunswick area while spreading the AYLUS spirit to local communities. We thank our members for their hard work and dedication to expanding the All of Us Program!
Reported by: Daniel Yu
Activity Lead: Daniel Yu (5.0 hours) & Xiaowen Kang (5.5 hours), Isabelle Tee (4.0 hours)
Volunteers: Irwin Wang (5.0 hours), Colin Hou (4.0 hours), Kevin Lu (3.0 hours), Dylan Ing (3.0 hours), Jerry Yu (3.0 hours), Rifat Meer (2.0 hours), Albert He (2.0 hours), Jason Liu (2.0 hours), Kenny Shao (2.0 hours), Caitlin Tee (2.0 hours) and Justin Hong (1.0 hours).
