Grant: Planning and Dissemination Grant - Institute Community Support

Youth mental illness and substance use is a global problem. Symptoms of mental illness often begin in adolescence, yet many children do not receive treatment. This can be a significant burden on youth and their families. Unfortunately, the stigma often associated with mental health and addictions can discourage families from reaching out for help. Furthermore, mental illnesses and addictions can lead to other health concerns, creating even more demand on the healthcare system. It is critical to invest in better strategies for prevention, early identification, and management of youth mental health and addictions. Recognizing the importance of this, a partnership was formed between healthcare providers and community representatives in a small urban community in Newfoundland and Labrador with a goal to address youth mental health and addictions in a way that was responsive to the needs of the community. The community alliance worked with citizens in order to better understand needs, gaps, and opportunities, and together we developed a community action plan with recommended strategies. This planning grant will allow us to work with the community to put this plan into motion. To achieve this goal, we will create a stakeholder team of healthcare providers, researchers, and engaged community members, including youth. We will bring team members together to review the community-approved action plan and to identify next steps in designing strategies. The team will then develop a roadmap to carry out and assess the community- based mental health and addictions strategies. By engaging all of the relevant stakeholders in strategy-planning, and by drawing on the community's existing strengths, we are helping to ensure that our work is valued and accepted. The end goal is to develop better pathways of care for youth facing mental health and addictions challenges.