Health and Behavioral Studies PhD student Marisa Westbrook conducted research in 2018-2019 regarding people experiencing homelessness on Denver’s streets. “The dearth of public bathrooms and hygiene facilities helps explain why 54 percent of our survey respondents noted it was ‘difficult’ or ‘nearly impossible’ to find a place to use the bathroom when needed,” she wrote in a letter to the Denver Board of Public Health and Environment. “Our survey confirms the numerous research studies which find that inadequate bathroom and hygiene access is a contributor to mental stress and mental illness.”
In addition, Westbrook was recently lead author publishing, “Contraceptive Access Through School-Based Health Centers: Perceptions of Rural and Suburban Young People,” in Health Promotion Practice. The research was co-funded by a CRISP grant and Westbrook co-mentored two undergraduates on the project who were also credited in the publication.
Public health experts ask for water, toilets for Denver's homeless
NewsBreak, August 22