The Stigma and Resilience Among Vulnerable Youth Centre (SARAVYC) is a team of researchers dedicated to finding evidence-based strategies that will reduce stigma and improve resilience among vulnerable youth populations. The Principal Investigator and Director of SARAVYC is Dr Elizabeth Saewyc.
Through a multidisciplinary approach, we collaborate with health professionals, policy-makers, educators, and service providers to identify the social forces and strategies that foster healthy environments for youth.
SARAVYC receives research funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH), national and provincial governments, and B.C. Health Authorities, among other sources.
Many of SARAVYC’s studies have received local, national, and international media attention and have been used as evidence for policy change. Below are some of SARAVYC’s current initiatives.
CANADIAN TRANS YOUTH HEALTH SURVEY
From October 2013 to May 2014, SARAVYC conducted a nationwide anonymous online survey of youth aged 14-25 who identify as transgender or genderqueer. We received 923 useable responses from participants balanced across Canadian provinces. Respondents included 60 Francophone participants. The survey asks about health risks and protective factors for trans and genderqueer youth. It also asks participants to comment on the phrasing of questions around gender identity, in order to better understand how to ask these questions appropriately. The national report was released in May 2015 and regional reports are forthcoming. Results from the national report have already influenced trans policy in schools and national organizations.
A cornerstone of SARAVYC’s work is knowledge-to-action: ensuring our research gets in front of the communities who will use the results.
PROJECT RESPEQT: RESEARCH AND EDUCATION ON SUPPORTIVE ENVIRONMENTS FOR QUEER TEENS
SARAVYC is participating in an NIH-funded research study led by a team in Minnesota to identify the potential supportive influences in community environments for LGBTQ youth. Researchers interviewed LGBTQ youth in Minnesota, Massachusetts, and British Columbia. In BC, 23 youth from urban, rural, and suburban communities participated in “go-along” interviews. As part of their interviews, youth showed researchers the places they hang out, services they use, and the places they feel safe.
These interviews gathered in-depth information on LGBTQ adolescents’ perceptions of supportive elements in their schools and communities. This information is being used in conjunction with published literature and expert reviews to create an LGB Environment Inventory, to test which factors at the family, peer, school and community levels foster LGBT youth health.
VANCOUVER TECHNICAL HIGH SCHOOL WELLNESS INITIATIVE
SARAVYC researchers, led by Dr. Sheila Marshall in collaboration with Vancouver Technical High School, are evaluating the school’s Wellness Initiative (WIN). In 2014, initial survey findings helped administration, students, teachers, and counselors recognize that a lack of sleep among students was common. They decided to promote sleep health in 2015. During the multi-year initiative, SARAVYC surveys students annually using electronic tablets, which allows for less class-time interruptions and faster reporting. This helps the school community to rapidly implement their initiatives. The project has already gained media attention from Global News, The Globe and Mail and the Ottawa Citizen.
GIRL2GIRL: HARNESSING TEXT MESSAGING TO REDUCE TEEN PREGNANCY AMONG LESBIAN, GAY, & BISEXUAL GIRLS
Despite compelling data that lesbian and bisexual adolescents are at risk for pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections (STIs), programs tailored to their sexual health needs remain nonexistent.
To fill this gap, the Center for Innovative Public Health Research (CiPHR) led by Dr Michelle Ybarra, has asked SARAVYC researchers and others to join them in developing and evaluating Girl2Girl, a novel text messaging-based teen pregnancy prevention program that will be designed specifically for LGB young women ages 14-18 across the U.S.
SARAVYC is conducting asynchronous on-line focus groups with diverse LGB young women from across the U.S., to gather input for creating the 10-week text messaging intervention.
Submitted by Elizabeth Saewyc
