Teen Mental Health

Mental health concerns among youth have risen dramatically, according to the CDC’s 2023 Youth Risk Behavior Survey. In 2021, LGBTQIA+ high schoolers were twice as likely as their heterosexual peers to report persistent feelings of sadness, hopelessness, or poor mental health. Adolescents who feel heard and supported by their families have higher self-esteem, better health, and are half as likely to report suicidal thoughts or attempts. Parents and caregivers often struggle to support their children, even with basic steps like starting a conversation. While resources exist, many lack simple, accessible tools for fostering dialogue. This is where “Grow a Garden” steps in.

Throughout Spring and Summer 2023, the Health Communication Design Studio engaged in a Co-Creation design process, inviting participation from community members who had connections to LGBTQIA+ youth in the St. Louis area. This collaborative effort resulted in a prototype that uses different conversation starters with varying levels of vulnerability to engage youth in conversations about identity, emotions, relationships, hopes, and challenges to the extent they feel comfortable. From there, we further developed out the conversation prompts, aiming to provide the starting point for teens and adults to approach topics that leads to mutual understanding and more support for teens.

It was essential to learn from teens, adults, and organizations in St. Louis whether conversation starters might be useful, in what form, how they could be distributed and used, and what benefits they might provide (e.g., opening dialogue, helping teens feel seen, understood, and supported).

To achieve this, we engaged with community organizations that serve youth to:

1. Gather feedback on the conversation-starting materials and potential distribution models and
2. Help identify a sample of community members to evaluate the materials.

We then worked with community members to understand:

1. Whether and how the materials were accessed, perceived, and used
2. the perceived benefits of using the materials; and any unintended negative consequences of their use.

Overall, we distributed 900+ sets of cards to 10+ partners.

Key Team Members: Penina Acayo Laker, Alex Koehl, Christine Watridge

Connections: This project partnered with local organizations across St. Louis: Story Stitchers Artists Collective, Creative Reaction Lab, the Legacy Center, SQSH and Youth in Need.