Thirteenth International Conference on The Arts in Society

Abstract

With most mental illness beginning in youth, the homeless youth population reports high level of unmet mental health needs. In Montreal, Anglophone and Allophone (who speak neither French nor English) youth, as linguistic minorities, face additional problems communicating about mental illness or finding appropriate services. The objective of the study is to understand how homeless Anglophone and Allophone youth perceive mental healthcare and what hinders or facilitates access through the use of art-based research methods, photovoice and community mapping, to engage youth in gathering creative and representative information. In this presentation, we discuss the values of our art-based methods, and their potential for illustrating the realities of a complex intersectionality between mental illness, youth, homelessness, and belonging to a linguistic minority group, by allowing for a common language – art. Community mapping - Participants will draw maps of their community: resources they use and places providing help related to their mental health and highlight meaningful experiences and feelings for each location identified. Photovoice - Participants will take pictures that represent their views on mental health; available resources; and factors influencing mental health and well-being (e.g., language). Follow-up focus groups will enable youth to express their emotions and perceptions towards mental illness and related services, providing deep insights into how language and other contextual factors impact service use. These art-based methodologies can enable youth to express emotions towards and perceptions of mental illness and related services. Finally, creating strong visual sources of data can help generate awareness for homeless youth experiences.