Grant: Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship Program

This research respectfully involves and engages Indigenous communities. Many First Nations communities report increased rates of substance use when compared to non-Indigenous communities. Within remote or rural communities, it can be difficult to provide consistent access to services. The proposed study will evaluate the development and implementation of a virtual culturally-relevant mental health intervention system for First Nations individuals to address accessibility to mental health services related to substance use. Study objectives aim to contribute to the current evidence on mental health needs, delivery, and guidelines for First Nations' people by promoting four major outcomes based on Indigenous Healing theories related to hope, belonging, meaning, and purpose. Specifically, seven treatment centres across Canada have collaborated. Together, we have mobilized a virtual care environment to create and adapt content that can improve accessibility and continuity of services, including self-management resources, virtual psycho-educational groups, and virtual individual or group-based treatment for registered clients with each partnering treatment centre. Analyses will examine both outcome and process-based data, using a mixed-method approach including interviews with treatment centre staff and service participants, quantitative measures of participant wellbeing, and program feasibility measures of attrition, technological difficulties, and participant engagement. Results will be used to generate recommendations for future virtual health research.