FOCUS
Students spend most of their time in school systems, and at the same time, they don’t exist in a vacuum. They navigate multiple environments, such as their home, juvenile detention centers, foster care systems, health care systems, etc. Natalie is interested in examining how publicly funded institutions support the educational, physical, and mental health care needs of youth who have experienced significant childhood trauma. How can our multiple systems support the educational success of youth who have experienced trauma? Specifically, Natalie wants to examine better avenues in creating access for mental health services for minoritized, Spanish-speaking, under-resourced, and/or low-income communities. Natalie believes interdisciplinary and cross-sector collaboration among policymakers, academics, and communities is essential in advancing the overall health of communities that have inequitable access to education, medical care, and mental health services.
MORE ABOUT NATALIE
Natalie is coming from a small rural town in Arizona on the U.S.-Mexico border. Her hometown is low-resourced and holds rich bi-cultural ties, both of which provide her with a unique perspective and deep dedication to create equitable systems for communities like her own.
DISSERTATION GRANT AWARDEE — SPRING 2022
A Pilot Study: Youth Participatory Engagement and Action in Mental Health
Disparities in mental health prevalence, access, and treatment utilization remain a concern in the United States. Given the stark disparities in these areas, this study considers how current treatments may not be appropriate for communities who have historically been excluded from research. The purpose of this study is to pilot and evaluate the implementation of a novel, curriculum-based, and adaptive intervention, Youth Participatory Engagement and Action in Mental Health (YPEAM), which integrates research on mental health access, barriers and facilitators to mental health treatment, stigma, and Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR) in order to inform how to best support the mental health needs of adolescents across settings and community needs.
TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE HPRS DISSERTATION AWARDS, CLICK HERE.
