It’s bringing teens in the door to talk about personal issues.
Youville Community Health Centre in St. Vital is now hosting teen clinics every Tuesday evening for anyone aged 14-20. Teens can chat with a nurse or doctor there without an appointment.
Community health nurse Sheri Beaudry decided to create the teen “helping corner” after speaking with a girl who said she walked by the health centre several times but always lost the nerve to go inside.
“That made me realize, OK, we need to do something different,” Beaudry said.
“We thought well, maybe if we made a safe space that just seemed more … youth friendly, interesting, had places where they could plug-in their phones … that could help.”
Instead of asking a receptionist to speak to a health care professional, Beaudry and her team are trying something different.
“We put out some information … we have different topics and we actually pick the topics based on what the youth told us they wanted,” she said.
“Things like housing, how to get a job, Indigenous issues, spirituality, LGBTQ issues … really fall under those sort of social determinants of health.”
The teen clinic runs from 4-7 p.m. every Tuesday at 6-845 Dakota St.
A portion of the funds to launch the initiative came from a Healthy Together Now provincial grant and a student group at Dakota Collegiate who decided to put a grant they received toward the teen clinic.
WATCH: The Youville Community Health Centre hosts a Teen Clinic every Tuesday, aiming to help teens with their physical, sexual and mental health.
Comments