Community Health Promotion

EMPOWER

Of Minnesota's 6,000 youth experiencing homelessness on any night, 35% are pregnant or parenting. Lack of shelter poses health risks for both parent and child. Yet, few programs exist to reduce health disparities among this population, strengthen their connections with healthcare, and prevent subsequent unplanned pregnancies.

In 2019 we and Minneapolis community partners developed and piloted Empowering Parents for Wellness in Shelter (EMPOWER), a transitional living program for pregnant or parenting youth experiencing homelessness. EMPOWER features a youth-driven health empowerment group, support and training for shelter staff, and on-site health services at The Bridge for Youth, an urban youth shelter, in Minneapolis.

Through the initial needs assessment, we identified priority content:  sexual health, mental health, and child health. Youth and staff weighed in on program design: they wanted it to be adaptable; and strengths-based, culturally-competent, and trauma-informed. They wanted it to help participants develop skills around health and health care; to leverage the key role of staff in promoting youth health; and to integrate youth voice. Preliminary implementation data suggested that youth and staff liked EMPOWER and that it aligned with the mission of the housing program.

These findings supported our hypothesis that health empowerment programming can foster resilience: parents in the study expressed an interest in improving their own health and that of their child. Engaging youth, staff and community partners at all stages of the program—from initial exploration through program implementation – was critical. The Bridge for Youth continues to be a vital partner to YHHL.  Future plans include: ongoing feasibility evaluation, planning for sustainment, and scaling the intervention to similar transitional housing settings. 

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National Runaway Safeline

YHHL helped fill a gap in the research regarding best practices in health literacy programming for youth experiencing homelessness. In 2023, the National Runaway Safeline (NRS) asked the Youth Health and Housing Lab to update their curriculum for youth experiencing homelessness and the accompanying staff training. We partnered with youth and youth-serving agencies to pilot and evaluate three new education modules for their existing “Let’s Talk” runaway prevention curriculum. The new, more inclusive modules focused on mental health, human trafficking and social media, with youth experiencing homelessness at three youth-serving agencies.

Pre- and post-module surveys helped us understand whether the intervention improved youth knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors related to the topics. Our results suggested that Lets Talk! 2.0 is a promising intervention to promote health among youth experiencing homelessness. Engaging youth in this curriculum development positively informed the process and product: youth experiencing homelessness are the experts on which issues affect them and how.

Through a second project with National Runaway Safeline and partners, we adapted their Crisis Prevention training to be used with diverse audiences working with youth in crisis, and developed a companion youth workbook and Crisis Prevention training facilitator manual. 

Covid-19 Vaccine Confidence Project

With funding from the CDC to study vaccine hesitancy and uptake among specific populations, Youth Health and Housing Lab worked from May 2021 to April 2022 in partnership with youth, youth-serving agencies, public health, and healthcare institutions. Our shared goal was to develop tailored, youth- and community-driven, anti-oppressive, and equitable strategies to increase COVID-19 vaccine confidence and access among youth experiencing homelessness in Hennepin County, MN.

Through interviews, focus groups, surveys, and tabling and listening sessions with youth, youth-serving agency staff, and community members, we learned that the main barriers to vaccination for youth experiencing homelessness were concerns about its necessity, vaccine side effects and safety, mistrust of government and healthcare systems rooted in systemic racism, and logistical issues.

In response, we implemented four interventions:

  • Developing youth-friendly, trauma-informed, culturally responsive messaging about COVID-19 vaccination in partnership with youth.
  • Planning site-based, fun, and inclusive health events organized in partnership with youth and agencies.
  • Distributing vaccine aftercare kits to youth to offer physical, emotional, and educational support after vaccination.
  • Offering training and resources to staff at youth-serving agencies who work directly with youth to help them navigate conversations about the vaccine, in partnership with the Healthcare Reparations Cooperative.

This was a collective effort: thank you to the partner organizations and individuals that guided this work.

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