Where We Belong: Exploring Youth Narratives of Place, Space and Community to Shape Integrated Youth Service Design

Background: Research provides strong evidence that community-based, Integrated Youth Service (IYS) hubs spanning mental health, physical health, substance use, education, employment, peer support, and system navigation, have the potential to address some of the longstanding issues with mental health services for youth by providing safe, low-barrier access. However, significant gaps remain in understanding what works, for which youth, and in what context, particularly in Canadian provinces where IYS sites are still in early stages of development.

 

Approach: To inform early planning around service selection and youth engagement in IYS hubs across different community contexts, this study used participatory qualitative methods, including photo-elicitation and interviews, to explore youth experiences of spaces and places where their voices are activated, sustained, or constrained in their community. Fourteen youth (aged 13–25) from two rural communities in Nova Scotia, Canada, participated, reflecting on intersectional spaces (education, health, family, culture) where they do or do not see themselves as decision-makers, and how these places make them feel about their community.

 

Results: Thematic analysis of participant narratives identified two core categories: Youth Geographies and Place-Based Identity and Belonging. Within these domains, themes highlight the range of spaces youth access, the physical and social features that determine whether these spaces feel supportive or challenging, the resources and services they avail at these spaces, and the relational nature of belonging, where socio-spatial interactions influence identity and inclusion.

 

Implications: Overall, the findings discuss how community and public spaces are connected to youths’ experiences of identity and belonging, shaping their sense of community, inclusion, and ultimately their mental health and well-being. This paper contributes to our understanding of how youth belonging is shaped by everyday interactions, which includes people, and also includes places and spaces such as buildings, services, and natural environments within local communities and neighborhoods, as well as the intersections among them. By centering youth perspectives in programming, this paper recommends that both socio-spatial (relational) and contextual factors be considered when designing IYS hubs to meet the needs of youth from diverse communities.