“It’s Just a Band-Aid on Something No One Really Wants to See or Acknowledge”: A Photovoice Study with Transitional Aged Youth Experiencing Homelessness to Examine the Roots of San Diego’s 2016–2018 Hepatitis A Outbreak

Jennifer K. Felner, Talia Kieu, Andrew Stieber, Hunter Call, Daniel Kirkland, Amanda Farr and Jerel P. Calzo
Additional contact information
Jennifer K. Felner: School of Public Health, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA 92123, USA
Talia Kieu: School of Public Health, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA 92123, USA
Andrew Stieber: School of Public Health, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA 92123, USA
Hunter Call: Independent Researcher, San Diego, CA 92123, USA
Daniel Kirkland: Independent Researcher, San Diego, CA 92123, USA
Amanda Farr: Child and Adolescent Services Research Center, School of Medicine, University of San Diego, San Diego, CA 92123, USA
Jerel P. Calzo: School of Public Health, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA 92123, USA

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 13, 1-24

Abstract: San Diego, California is consistently ranked among regions with the highest rates of homelessness in the United States. From 2016 to 2018, San Diego experienced an unprecedented outbreak of hepatitis A virus (HAV), largely attributed in media and public health discourse to the region’s growing population of people experiencing homelessness. Little attention, however, was devoted to examining the experiences and needs of this population, particularly transitional aged youth (TAY, aged 18–24) experiencing homelessness who may have been uniquely affected by the outbreak. This community-based participatory research study leveraged diverse qualitative methods, principally photovoice, to explore how the social and built environment shapes health among TAY experiencing homelessness in San Diego, how these environments may have contributed to the HAV outbreak, and TAY’s perceptions of HAV-related public health interventions. Emergent findings include stigmatization of TAY and other people experiencing homelessness, interventions that failed to address root causes of the outbreak, and interactions with housing-related and other social support resources that limit rather than support economic and social mobility. Findings have implications for understanding how media and public discourse, public health interventions, and availability and delivery of resources can contribute to and perpetuate stigma and health inequities faced by TAY experiencing homelessness.

Keywords: photovoice; community-based participatory research; hepatitis A virus; homelessness; youth; stigma; qualitative methods (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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