Grant: Doctoral Research Award - Prize: Knowledge Translation Supplement

In recent years, the importance of effectively sharing research findings with knowledge users (e.g. practitioners, general public, policy makers), a process termed knowledge translation, has been identified as a priority and viewed as critical to improving health outcomes. However, most of the research in this area has focused on developing strategies to share clinically relevant knowledge, with inadequate attention given to the needs of those seeking to improve population-level health outcomes through work in community settings. This study will address this knowledge gap through the development and assessment of an innovative strategy aimed at sharing research findings to target what the World Health Organization has recently identified as the most significant health problem facing young people today, mental health issues. This study will utilize Dialogue Workshops, an intervention in which youth and adults are brought together in community settings to discuss contemporary health and social issues. In these Dialogue Workshops, research evidence about youths' experiences of emotional distress (e.g., stress, anxiety, depression) will be shared. It is believed that creating a venue for youth and adults to come together to discuss youth's experiences with emotional distress will help to foster connectedness and empathy towards adolescents' experiences; two factors shown to promote mental health outcomes in youth. The effectiveness of this intervention will be assessed using novel research techniques to track the spread of knowledge gained through participation in the Dialogue Workshops within the community. Additionally, factors that foster mental health will be measured. This study will contribute new understandings and guidance for those involved in community-based knowledge translation and will provide evidence for a strategy aimed at promoting the mental health of Canadian youth.