Date of Award

6-3-2014

Document Type

Thesis

Publisher

Santa Clara : Santa Clara University

Department

Computer Engineering

First Advisor

Silvia Figueira

Abstract

An estimated 2.5 million youth ages 16-24 experience homelessness in the U.S. each year. These youth are disproportionately affected by sexual health issues, including HIV,STIs, teen pregnancy and teen dating violence. For youth, mobile phones are increasingly one of the main ways that they connect to the people and resources around them. Additionally, mobile apps via tech tablet are becoming a major tool for many healthcare providers in the U.S. Healthcare providers can play a critical role in providing appropriate care to homeless youth, and linking them to other health services. Research suggests that linking healthcare with other services needed by homeless adolescents, such as shelter or food, might help improve their continuity of care. Our project developed and tested the feasibility of YTH StreetConnect, a dual-purpose mobile app connecting homeless youths to local healthcare providers. We successfully created two mobile apps to help homeless youth locate resources, rate resources, find information, and communicate with healthcare providers through a technological interface.

Download

Share

COinS