Grant: Team Grant: Pathways IRT - Component 2 - Suicide Prevention

The study goal is to improve the mental well-being of First Nations (FN) children and to decrease suicidal behaviours in the longer term. Rates of suicide and suicide attempts of FN youth in Canada are alarmingly high and are considered a major public health concern. PAX Good Behavior Game (PAX-GBG) is a school-based mental health promotion strategy that was developed to improve mental, emotional, behavioural and academic outcomes in children and youth. It is a set of evidence-based interventions delivered within normal instructional activities of the classroom. We still have a considerable amount to learn about how mental health promotion and suicide prevention is implemented in Canada and in First Nations communities. It is essential to understand what works and for whom, how and why it works and whether it is scalable or not. Answering these questions will benefit ongoing suicide prevention efforts in Manitoba and across Canada. With Swampy Cree Tribal Council (SCTC) communities, the team seeks to understand how PAX-GBG is working from a FN perspective in order to adapt them to be culturally grounded in FN values, beliefs and traditions. The team is entering its 9th year of partnership with SCTC and has been expanded to reach our study goals. The team includes SCTC, Manitoba First Nations Education Resource Centre, Healthy Child Manitoba Office, the PAX GBG program developer, researchers and experts in implementation science. The study objective are: 1a) to examine how school based PAX GBG was implemented in SCTC classrooms ,1b), to determine if school based PAX-GBG is associated with improved mental health and academic outcomes for children in First Nations communities; 2a) to develop a culturally grounded toolkit (FN PAX) for implementation across schools, and communities in SCTC communities; 2b) to implement and evaluate FN PAX in SCTC communities