A research team led by Block has created a new toolkit to help young people overcome barriers to accessing mental health support in their schools and communities.
Karen Pate, an associate professor of health sciences at Brock College, and her research team will discuss their research on teen mental health and a new resource package called North Star Mental Health during an upcoming public webinar.
“Elevating Youth Voices: Promoting Access to Mental Health Resources in Schools” will be held from noon to 1 p.m. on Tuesday, June 4. The webinar is free, but registration is required.
Pat, who holds the Canada Research Chair in Equity and Inclusion in Children's Health at Brock University, is co-leader of the national COMPASS study, which has been collecting data from high school students since 2012.
In 2020, Pate and her team received a grant from SickKids Hospital and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) to study the impact of COVID-19 pandemic restrictions on the mental health of high school students.
The researchers interviewed 30 high school students across four states about their mental health experiences during the pandemic.
To their surprise, many of the answers the team got went beyond the impact of the pandemic.
“Students told us that they and their peers lacked knowledge about what mental health support was available to them, how to access it, and how and where to find accurate information about available resources,” says Negin Riazi, a former Bloch postdoctoral researcher and co-leader of the project.
“When we asked them the best way to get this information to young people, they answered loud and clear: social media and school,” she says.
In response, Pate, Liazi and their team created North Star Mental Health, a resource package to make mental health resources more accessible to both schools and students. The resources were developed in collaboration with young people and in consultation with educators.
The package includes a mental health resource guide, a social media suite, and a mental health database.
“Our goal is to amplify young people's experiences and make it as easy as possible for schools to help students access mental health support,” Pat says. “We know schools are short on resources and busy with many competing priorities.”
“We chose the name North Star because for thousands of years the North Star has been a guiding light for navigators, astronomers and people finding their way in the wilderness,” Liazi said. “When trying to find the right mental health support, it can sometimes feel like you're lost and without a guide.”
Under Pate and Riazi’s leadership, the research team includes Bloch PhD health sciences student Jessica Goddard (MSc ’23), long-time member of the COMPASS Youth Engagement Group Saloni Sharma, assistant professor Emily Verita of McMaster University, former Bloch postdoctoral researcher Marcus Duncan, and University of Waterloo professor Scott Leatherdale and partner Jack Orgue.
Sharma, Goddard, Riazi and Patte will present details about the North Star Mental Health resources during a webinar on June 4.
To register or for more information about the event, please visit the event webpage or contact Research Impact Manager, Jane Morrish at jmorrish@brocku.ca.
