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Primary Submission Category: Place/Communities
From Hood to Woods: BIPOC Youth Co-Led Participatory Dissemination to Rebuild Trust in Population Health Research
Authors: Shaina Sta. Cruz, Alaina Moguel, Evelyn Garcia, Jessi Jeronimo Ruiz, Shaina Sta. Cruz,
Presenting Author: R. David Rebanal*
How can population health researchers rebuild trust with communities most harmed by scientific neglect? The Hood 2 Woods study addresses this by centering Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) transitional-aged youth (18–26) as co-leaders in how research is produced, analyzed, and shared.
The purpose of the study is to examine the benefits of nature walks and the reduction of stress experienced by BIPOC youth in the San Francisco Bay Area. Aim 1, which is described in a separate abstract, tests this through a 9-month intervention involving guided nature walks, wearable health monitoring, and telomere length measurement. This presentation focuses on Aim 2: a photovoice project grounded in Public Health Critical Race Praxis that engaged the same youth cohorts to document, analyze, and disseminate their experiences of healing in nature — informing community- and policy-level action. Participants worked with a Curandera, a practitioner of ancestral natural medicine, to deepen their connection to indigenous and healing-based practices in nature, grounding the research process itself in cultural reclamation.
Across five cohorts, participants used photography and the SHOWeD method, co-developed the analytic codebook, and participated in thematic analysis. Preliminary results highlight five themes: nature as community space, nature as accessible and proximate, physical environments as gatekeepers, economic barriers and exclusionary fees, and disparate investment reflecting environmental racism.
Dissemination was itself a decolonial act: youth co-decided how findings were shared through a community exhibit featuring audio QR codes, photo credits, and a youth-led panel. One participant reflected: “The process of photovoice has been healing in and of itself.”
This presentation offers a replicable model and key lessons for population health researchers committed to epistemic justice and community trust.