Grant: Planning and Dissemination Grant - Institute Community Support

Mental health and substance use symptoms emerge during adolescence and young adulthood. These conditions are the largest contributors to the disease burden in this age group and are exacerbated in resource-limited environments where the majority of the world's youth live. In Lima, Peru, 29.6% of 12-17 year olds experienced mental health problems during Covid. These youth are exposed to factors that increase their risk of poor mental health, including violence, poverty and limited education. Young women, racialized and Indigenous communities are at greater risk of experiencing these difficulties compared to their counterparts. Mental health and substance use services in these settings are often inadequate, fragmented, and do not respond to the needs of youth. To ensure that services are responsive, culturally appropriate and meet the needs of youth, there has been an increasing call to engage youth in service design and delivery. Within the last decade, the Peruvian Government has aimed to reform the mental health system by developing community-based mental health centers. However, little is known about youth and families' experiences and needs with these services. The objective of the project is to develop multidisciplinary strategic partnerships with youth, families, service providers and community members in Villa El Salvador and meaningfully embed their perspectives in service adaptation and delivery of MHSU services. We will identify and partner with diverse youth and families to understand their mental health and substance use service needs, as well as gaps and opportunities in these services. We will hold an engagement meeting to co-design a larger study that will examine MHSU needs and adapt MHSU services for youth. We will organize Youth, Family, Community Member and Service Provider Advisory Groups. The work is expected to contribute to the evidence on youth and family engagement and quality collaboration between Canadian and Peruvian organizations.