Rural and northern youth sexual health team: Building interdisciplinary research capacity to reduce health and social disparities

Rural and northern youth suffer a disproportionate burden of negative health and social outcomes due to STIs and pregnancies at an early age. To reduce sexual health disparities, we need to understand how gender, culture and place both transform sexual health outcomes and can themselves be transformed to improve youth health and social well-being. However, researchers have yet to develop an in-depth understanding of the mechanisms that affect rural and northern youth¿s sexual health; we also do not fully appreciate how these forces interact to enhance or detract from interventions to reduce STIs and early-age pregnancies across this disadvantaged population or within its particularly vulnerable sub-groups. Furthermore, a glaring gap exists in terms of participatory research that emphasises youth empowerment and capacity building. Our mission is to bridge this knowledge gap by by developing new knowledge that will enable investigators to engage in participatory research to inform interventions to reduce sexual health disparities. Our Team will examine the ways in which the circumstances of living in rural and northern places put many youth at elevated risk for future health and social disadvantages that can result from STIs and unwanted pregnancies.