BETTER HEALTH: BLOCK BY BLOCK
The Adolescent Initiative (AI) at CHOP understands that it can be difficult for adolescents and young adults to get the health information and medical care they need. That’s why we created a Mobile Health Unit (MHU) exclusively for youth and young adults – to bring health services to you.
The MHU’s focus is to provide clinical and sexual health services into communities that need it most. This expansion of the services provided in our youth and young adult clinics will set the standard in Philadelphia for convenient adolescent health care in neighborhoods across the city, meeting you where you are.
The MHU features the same multidisciplinary team as our clinic, which takes a youth health empowerment approach and considers the challenging emotional experiences specific to the care of youth and young adults.
The MHU will provide a safe, confidential, and judgment-free space for you to receive health services, including direct access to the following:
- Clinical services such as HIV and STI screenings
- Sexual health education sessions
- Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP), a biomedical HIV prevention intervention
- Health education and clinical navigation services, such as insurance support
- Referrals for behavioral and psychological health support
- Referrals for homeless youth
- Referrals to social/community support groups and programs (for example, for youth identifying as queer)
The Adolescent Initiative at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia has worked with adolescents living with HIV and adolescents who could be exposed to HIV for the last 25 years. This work – including the design of the MHU – is informed by a Youth Community Advisory Board (YCAB) made up of youth ages 13 to 24. YCAB members receive training on leadership and health, and they also assist with CHOP community-based research and health projects.