Centering Liberatory Health Equity Lenses in Interdisciplinary Approaches to the Promotion of Youth Well-Being

Session Type: Symposium

Abstract

This session brings together interdisciplinary scholarship that applies liberatory health equity lenses to promote youth well-being and mental health. Drawing on four projects by alumni of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health Policy Research Scholars program, presenters explore structural and systemic barriers to youth thriving and propose transformative, equity-centered approaches. Papers examine: (1) systemic and peer-driven supports for Black youth in school mental health systems; (2) a pedagogical strategy to engage youth in participatory, equity-focused mental health research; (3) the cultural adaptation of an online mental health intervention for undocumented youth; and (4) public support for guaranteed income policies benefiting families. Collectively, the session envisions schools and policy systems as part of a broader, liberatory ecosystem of care for youth.

Sub Unit

• SIG-Stress, Coping, and Resilience

Chair

• Kate Somerville, University of Virginia

Papers

• Centering Black Youth, Rewriting the System: Toward Equitable School Mental Health Futures - Shlon A. Smith, Stepping Stone Therapy

• Examining a Pedagogical Strategy for Engaging Youth in Participatory Health Equity Research - Kate Somerville, University of Virginia

• Supporting Undocumented Youth Wellbeing through a Culturally Adapted Online Intervention - Jose Manuel Gonzalez Vera, Stanford University; Melanie Domenech Rodríguez, Utah State University; Alejandro Vázquez, University of Tennessee; Guadalupe San Miguel, Utah State University; Korena Klimczak, Utah State University; Miriam Mukasa, Utah State University; Damilola Daramola, Utah State University; Michael Levin, Utah State University; Jenifer García Mendoza, El Puente de Encuentros

• Centering Children Through Economic Policy: Attitudes Toward Guaranteed Income for Families - Monica De La Cruz, University of California - Berkeley

Session Organizer

• Kate Somerville, University of Virginia

Discussant

• Jessika Bottiani, University of Virginia