Grant: Other: IYS-Net Phase 2 - Territorial Stream Grants - NWT

Youth in the NWT are distinct in many ways, living in in remote communities, most (59%) self-identify as First Nations, Inuit or Métis, and they lead with love and culture. Like their peers across Canada, they deserve to be set up for success in life, and a foundational element is wellness. This proposal will support that goal and address the question: What do youth in the NWT need to be and feel well? We have a diverse team of youth, families and decision-makers from the NWT in partnership with academic researchers from across Canada. We will co-create indicators, gather local data, adapt best practices for addressing suicide risk, exchange knowledge, and design a Learning Health System (LHS). Our data objectives are to grow expertise and resources to meaningfully manage, analyze and apply data in the NWT, generate results to inform decision-makers and determine the protocols for sharing data with the federated IYS data platform in a way that respects data sovereignty. Impacts will first serve youth, clinicians, and then decision-makers. We aim to introduce assessments and resources rooted in culture that center youth stories and needs. Training, resources, and data will be provided to local staff who work with youth. The final layer will yield indicators and data systems to monitor progress and address gaps, thus informing decision-makers in timely, relevant and robust ways for system-level improvements. A significant component of this research is to clearly measure health inequities between groups defined by multiple determinants of health by beginning with one equity gap that is already clear in the NWT: the inequity between Indigenous youth and non-Indigenous youth. This project presents a significant opportunity for the NWT to complement existing efforts to enhance capacity building, advance youth mental wellness, and improve health inequities while contributing to and benefiting from the Pan-Canadian IYS network.