Grant: Other: IYS-Net Phase 2 - Provincial Stream Grants

In Newfoundland and Labrador, youth are experiencing increased mental health, substance use, and housing challenges, and often have difficulty navigating the complex and fragmented system of support. To address this concern, Choices for Youth (CFY) developed 'Carter's Hill Place' (CHP), an Integrated Youth Services (IYS) hub to better meet the needs of these youth. To enhance the work of CHP and to support the implementation of two new provincial hubs, this research project aims to: 1) support improved mental health and substance use outcomes for youth; 2) increase equitable access to integrated care; and 3) establish a sustainable learning health system. These goals will be addressed over the four-year funding cycle through the implementation of two work packages. Work package one will focus on CFY's ability to use effective practices from implementation science to launch two provincial IYS hubs. These hubs will be contextually adapted from the CHP Hub model with consideration for their continuous quality improvement. Specifically, we will: 1) identify what was important for successfully implementing the CHP Hub IYS model and what changes are needed for a co-designed IYS model for the new hubs; 2) help develop the local services necessary for the new hubs to operate; 3) prepare services, practitioners, and users to benefit from the IYS hubs once they start; and 4) continuously improve the hubs based on regular data collected after they are set up. In work package two our team will create a logic model for a Learning Health System (LHS) that includes both the CHP and new IYS hubs. This model will use various documents (strategic plans, reports etc.), observations of organization operations, data from EMHware, and results from projects in each work package to build, assess, and enhance the LHS. Importantly, the LHS will track ongoing improvements in the services provided and the outcomes for users.