Grant: Dissemination Events - PA: Gender, Sex and Health Research

Research has advanced the development and testing of evidence-based programs to promote children's mental health. However, these are not widely available. Inequities in access are particularly stark in rural and Indigenous communities. The proposed knowledge translation project builds on a partnership among PREVNet- a national network of Canadian researchers and youth serving organizations, the Rock Solid Foundation (RSF) - a not-for profit crime prevention group, researchers from the University of Victoria, and a national knowledge user group - the RCMP. Our activities will provide needed knowledge to enhance national decision making within the RCMP's Youth Officer Programs about best practices for disseminating prevention programs that promote mental health of Canadian children and prevent crime. Our knowledge translation and transfer objectives are to: 1.Sustain communication among the partnership members (RCMP, PREVNet, the RSF and researchers). 2.Catalyze, oversee, and monitor the capacity of the RCMP's National Youth Officer program to promote uptake and monitoring of the WITS Programs to prevent peer victimization in five rural communities. 3.Document strategies used at the community level to facilitate the dissemination of the evidence-based WITS bullying prevention programs and gaps that need to be addressed for widespread dissemination through the RCMP. 4.Provide recommendations for next steps in building the partnership and improving WITS program materials for nation-wide dissemination. The RCMP provides services for approximately 5,000 of the more than 16,500 schools in Canada, many in hard to reach rural and Indigenous communities The RCMP Act designates crime prevention as a priority for all RCMP officers. Understanding ways to enhance partnerships among program developers, researchers, and this important group of knowledge users will help to advance efforts to improve Canadian children's mental health and well-being.