Y2CONNECT Baltimore: A Mobile-Friendly Locally Based Solution to Connect Adolescents and Young Adults to Resources Across Sectors

Abstract

During adolescence, adolescents and young adults (AYAs) can benefit from supports across education, employment, social/civic, and health sectors aiding in their transition to adulthood. However, many AYAs, along with caregivers and professionals working with AYAs, are often unaware of available local resources. Bridging this gap in Baltimore, we developed a local comprehensive mobile-friendly AYA resource guide, called Y2CONNECT. This study’s goal was to describe Y2CONNECT’s user engagement, demographics, and content interaction from its launch on 11/1/2016 to 6/30/2022 using Google Analytics. We coded each viewed listing by main service provided into 21 domain areas across five sectors, achieving a 97% agreement in coding. Linear regressions examined average yearly change in number of monthly usage patterns. Overall, 65,046 unique users viewed 114,732 pages. Most users were locally based (54%), female (64%), aged 18 to 34 (54%), and used a desktop (58%). Content was viewed across sectors: Health (47%), Schools/Jobs (16%), Social Services/Recreation (13%), Special Populations (13%), and Essential Services (11%). Most listings viewed included family planning/sexual/reproductive health (18%), essential services (12%), and job readiness (11%). Linear regression analyses showed significant yearly increases in new users and engagement (all ps < .001). Findings highlight how a digital strategy can connect users to locally based AYA-focused resources across sectors.

Keywords

adolescents young adults resource guide technology

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