Abstract
The purpose of this study was to discuss, identify, and determine the barriers, if any, that adolescents experience in accessing school-based wellness centers. A 21-question, online survey was conducted for exploratory purposes. The survey was cross-sectional, web-based, and it included demographic questions from subjects at a large Northern California metropolitan school district. The survey consisted of a convergent mixed methods design using a series of open and closed-ended, demographic, multiple-choice, and Likert scale questions; ordinal and nominal data; and categorical variables. Statistical software was used to run Descriptive Statistics using a Chi-Square Test of Independence on the data collected to measure, rank, categorize, and identify patterns. The study tested the hypothesis that barriers are significant to adolescent youth utilizing school-based wellness centers. Fourteen hypotheses were tested against 2 dependent variables. Out of the barriers analyzed, gender and food insecurity were the only two that had statistical significance in students accessing wellness center services. There were no significant findings among the remaining 12 hypotheses. Future research could be conducted such as more testing across multiple schools to capture the needs and barriers of a broader population. Future research could benefit from one-on-one interviews in addition to an online survey since some students did not take the online survey seriously.