In collaboration with community members, ARCHES conducted a community based participatory research (CBPR) project to examine San Diego County’s public health response to the 2017 Hepatitis A outbreak and its effect on those experiencing homelessness, particularly transitional aged youth (TAY). The project utilized the Photovoice method of collecting data which involves taking photos of the social and built environment, followed by thoughtful discussion with TAY experiencing homelessness.
On May 15, 2019, the research team hosted the Action4Health community forum at San Diego City College to share the photographs and findings with approximately 80 community members, service providers, and policymakers. Our community leads and the Youth Advisory Board (YAB) shared their experiences regarding stigma, limited access to resources, and criminalization and overpolicing with attendees.
During the public forum, attendees contributed in sharing solution-focused recommendations to address stigma and increase access to quality resources for TAY experiencing homelessness. Recommendations included improving the integration of services, identifying new ways to share information about resources, partnering with TAY to inform policy development, increasing access to clean restrooms and public transportation, promoting socially-responsible practices that do not further stigmatize individuals experiencing homelessness, decreasing the use of stigmatizing language, among many others. Please see Our Research Projects (**link embedded here) for more information about this project.