HEALTH-RELATED QUALITY OF LIFE INCLUDES PERCEIVED MENTAL HEALTHAND PHYSICAL WELLBEING OF INDIVIDUALS. THE PREVALENCE FOR MENTAL HEALTH ILLNESS ISTHE HIGHEST IN YOUNG ADULTS (25.8%) WHEN COMPARED TO OLDER AGE GROUPS. IMPAIRED MENTAL HEALTH NOT ONLY CONTRIBUTES TO POOR QUALITY OF LIFE BUT ALSO IMPACTS PHYSICAL ABILITIES RESULTING IN GREATER RISK OF CHRONIC DISEASE.A MAJOR CONTRIBUTOR TO POOR MENTAL HEALTH STATUS OF YOUNG ADULTS IS STRESS ANDANXIETY, UNHEALTHY EATING, AND LIMITED PHYSICAL ACTIVITY.THESE UNHEALTHY BEHAVIORS INCREASE THE RISK OF DEVELOPING DEBILITATING CHRONIC DISEASES.ATTENUATING POOR LIFESTYLE BEHAVIORSOF YOUNG ADULTS CAN BE APPROACHED THROUGH A CAPTIVE AUDIENCE OF OVER 12 MILLION YOUNG ADULT(AGED 25 OR YOUNGER) COLLEGE STUDENTS THAT ARE ATTENDING UNIVERSITY ANNUALY IN THE UNITED STATES. YOUNG ADULTS WILL FACE DIFFICULTIES POST-GRADUATION, SUCH AS STRUGGLES WITH FUNCTIONING AT WORK AND WORK ABSENCES, IF UNHEALTHY BEHAVIORS AND MENTAL HEALTHISSUES ARE IGNORED.USING A COMMUNITY-WIDE APPROACH TO HEALTH PROGRAMMING HAS PROVEN TO HAVE A POSITIVE LONG-TERM RETURN ON INVESTMENT BY REDUCING WORK ABSENTEEISM AND HEALTHCARE COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH OBESITY AND CHRONIC DISEASE. THIS HIGHLIGHTS THAT USINGA COMMUNITY-BASED APPROACH, WHERE YOUNG ADULTS DEVELOP CULTURALLY TAILORED HEALTH PROGRAMMING,IS BOTH A FEASIBLE AND SUCCESSFUL APPROACH WHEN DESIGNING HEALTH PROGRAMMING FOR YOUNG ADULTS.IN YEAR 1 YOUNG ADULTS WILL BE RECRUITED TO TAKE A COURSE TO IMPROVE THE HEALTH OF THEIRCOLLEGE CAMPUS ENVIRONMENT.THISCOURSE WILL TEACH YOUNG ADULTSABOUT COMMUNITY-BASED HEALTH PROGRAMMING (I.E. MOTIVATIONAL FACTORS FOR BEHAVIOR CHANGE, EVALUATION OF THEIR CAMPUS ENVIRONMENT, AND COLLABORATION WITH OTHER HEALTH PROFESSIONALS). BASED ON THE OUTCOMES OF THE COURSE,COLLEGE STUDENTS WILL DEVELOP AND IMPLEMENT A PILOT PROGRAM TO BE TESTED ON THEIR CAMPUS IN YEAR 2. OUTCOMES OF THE PILOT PROGRAM ARE ANTICIPATED TO DEVELOP A FEASIBLE INTERVENTION PROGRAM THAT IS CULTURALLY TAILORED TO YOUNG ADULTS THAT WILL ENHANCE THE MENTAL HEALTH STATUS AND WORK TO PREVENT CHRONIC DISEASE.DATA FROM THIS PROGRAM WILL ENABLE THE RESEARCH TEAM AND COLLABORATORS TO DEVELOP A CONTINUATION GRANT TO TEST THEHEALTH-RELATED PROGRAM AT ADDITIONAL LAND-GRANT UNIVERSITIES AND COMMUNITY COLLEGES, WHICH HAS THE POTENTIAL TO IMPROVE AND SUSTAIN HEALTH OF MILLIONS OF YOUNG ADULTS AND HELP TO ENSURE AN ABLE AND ACTIVE WORKFORCE AS WELL AS ECONOMIC STABILITY.