BETTER HEALTH: BLOCK BY BLOCK
The Adolescent Initiative (AI) at CHOP understands that it can be difficult for adolescents and youth to get the health information and healthcare 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 accessible adolescent health 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 and trauma-informed approach to the care of youth and young adults and our work in the community.
The MHU will provide a safe, confidential and judgment-free space for you to receive health services, which serve as a primary prevention tool with the power to impact your long-term positive health outcomes. The MHU will provide direct access to:
- 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 mental health support
- referrals for homeless youth
- referrals to social/community support groups and programs (for example, for youth identifying as LGBT)
The Adolescent Initiative at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia has worked with adolescents living with and at risk for HIV for the last 25 years. AI’s work — including the design of the MHU — is informed by a Youth Community Advisory Board (YCAB) for youth ages 13 to 24. YCAB members receive leadership and health trainings as well as assist with community-based research and health projects through the hospital.
#AIMobileHealth is Coming Near You
Follow our #AIMobileHealth Instagram feed to see where the MHU will be next. Be sure to tag #AIMobileHealth when you see the Mobile Health Unit in your neighborhood. <!– We’ll feature your post below! — >