ABSTRACT
Creating Digital Pathways Out of Homelessness: Digital Technology Design for Young People, Wellbeing and Engagement with Support
Rhianon Vichta, Brisbane Youth Service (BYS) and Dr Karleen Gwinner, Adjunct Research Fellow, Latrobe University, Health Sciences
Improving young people’s engagement with, and pathways through, the homelessness service systems is a priority for the Queensland youth and homelessness sectors. Young people accessing homelessness services are often highly transient and their engagement with support is commonly unpredictable, opportunistic, sporadic and crisis-driven. This can negatively impact homelessness service providers’ capacity to provide consistent support to enable young people to achieve sustainable longer term change.
With the ever-increasing migration of contemporary culture into the digital space, there is a growing need to better understand the potential role that online technologies such as interactive apps and websites can play in both enhancing young people’s engagement with support and promoting better wellbeing outcomes for highly vulnerable homeless young people.