In This toGether: #TranscendentHealth – Adapting an LGB+ inclusive teen pregnancy prevention program for transgender boys
The project will adapt Girl2Girl (a text messaging-based teen prevention pregnancy program (TPP) program designed for cisgender sexual minority girls) to create #TranscendentHealth, a gender inclusive TPP for transgender boys. The adaptation will build upon our prior success of Girl2Girl by updating the content so that it addresses the important social and structural influences of […]
Canadian Transgender Youth Health Survey
In 2014, and again in 2019, SARAVYC conducted a bilingual survey to learn about the health of transgender youth in Canada. It was the first and largest of its kind in Canada, with 1,519 trans and/or non-binary youth across the nation responding in 2019.
Educator Perspectives on the Implementation and Impact of SOGI 123 in British Columbia Schools
Beginning in 2016 in British Columbia (BC), a program called Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGI) 1 2 3 was implemented in BC’s elementary and secondary schools, with the goal of creating safe and inclusive environments for students of all genders and sexual orientations. This program is therefore the first of its kind in Canada, and seeks to address the health gap between sexual minority students and their heterosexual peers.
Peer Navigator Effectiveness for HIV Prevention in Street-Involved & Homeless Youth
Reaching street-involved and homeless youth (SIY) and enabling them to make use of the many evidence-based HIV prevention and treatment interventions like antiretrovirals (ART) is critical to achieving the global goal declared by the United Nations of zero new infections and zero HIV deaths by 2030. Canadian sites (London, Toronto, Vancouver) and Kenyan sites (Pioneer and Kitale) all have many underserved SIY who bear a high burden of uncontrolled HIV.
Captaining Inclusion in BC Rugby
The aim of this study is to pilot test the effect of a short, discussion-led social cognitive intervention on homophobic language use, descriptive norms, injunctive norms, and attitudes towards using homophobic language. The intervention will be delivered by professional rugby union players to teenage rugby union teams.
Trans, Nonbinary and Two Spirit Young People’s Experiences of Government Care and Health Services in BC
In 2021, the Representative for Children and Youth in British Columbia contracted SARAVYC to undertake a series of studies using data from the BC Adolescent Health Survey and the Canadian Trans Youth Health Survey to understand the experiences of gender minority youth in government care and accessing health services. For the project, SARAVYC undertook four interrelated literature reviews, data analyses of BCAHS (2018) and CTYHS (2014 & 2019), and interviewed former and current gender minority youth with experiences in government care and health services in the province.
Stressors experienced by parents of sexual and gender minority youth in collectivist communities
Sexual minority youth in British Columbia (BC) feel less supported by parents now than their sexual minority peers did in 1998, especially by fathers. There are few interventions designed for families, and almost all are group-based approaches in urban centres, with limited evaluation of their outcomes. Studies have shown the effectiveness of on-line and text-messaging approaches in sustaining health behaviour change, including by our research team, and such interventions can bypass barriers and access issues for parents and youth, even in rural areas (e.g., privacy, transportation, competing life demands, lack of available local professionals).
World Health Organization Global Guidelines on School Health Services
In 2019, the World Health Organization (WHO) tapped SARAVYC for urgent support. Background WHO’s Department of Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health is currently developing a global guideline on school health services, and the Guidelines Development Group (GDG) is chaired by Dr. Elizabeth Saewyc. As one step in guideline development, WHO wanted to consult school health experts around the […]
Dating violence intervention developed with LGBTQ2S+ youth for LGBTQ2S+ youth
Gender-based violence disproportionately affects people who identify as LGBTQ2S+ and gender non-conforming individuals. Trend analyses of the province-wide BC Adolescent Health Survey tell us that lesbian, gay, or bisexual youth are three to six times more likely to experience dating violence than their straight peers. In addition, our Canadian Trans Youth Health Survey finds trans and non-binary youth report even higher rates of dating violence.
Investigation of GSA effects using SLEPHI
SARAVYC has developed an innovative, award-winning method of studying site-level longitudinal effects of population health interventions (SLEPHI) that can be applied to site-level research in any field.
