Grant: Master's Award: Canada Graduate Scholarships

The teenage pregnancy rate in Northern British Columbia (NBC) is the highest in the province. Compared to adults, pregnant, birthing, and early parenting (PBEP) adolescents are at greater risk for adverse physical outcomes and social, emotional, and financial consequences. This is especially true for Indigenous adolescents who experience higher rates of pregnancy compared to non-Indigenous youth. Given well-documented links between settler-colonialism, anti-Indigenous racism, adverse health outcomes, and health inequities, it is critical to understand Indigenous-led solutions. This research thus privileges Indigenous voices and uses anti-colonial community-based methodology to explore promising practices to promote northern and Indigenous PBEP adolescents wellbeing in NBC. Revitalizing Indigenous birth practices, promoting cultural safety, and using models of care (where collaborative programs ;wrap health and social services ;around clients in a single location) are highly effective ways to improve health and wellbeing. Research on these promising practices, however, is primarily focused on either general/overall youth health or PBEP adults in urban areas and Nunavut/Nunavik. No research has explored the applicability of these approaches for PBEP adolescents in NBC. This research thus takes a qualitative and place-based approach, collaborating with PBEP adolescents and health care and service providers, to translate promising practices for applicability in NBC. Through an established partnership with the Northern Society for Domestic Peace, this applied research will recommend program policy for a new wraparound supportive housing project in Smithers/NBC and will thus directly contribute to health equity for northern and Indigenous adolescents.