Nipissing University partners on youth mental health research project
A research study conducted in North Bay is going to examine youth mental health, addictions and trauma and services available in northern Ontario.
Hands The Family Help Network is partnering with Nipissing University on the project.
Trish Mintz, director of child and youth mental health services at Hands, is preparing to look into child and youth concurrent disorders.
"Concurrent disorders are when you have a mental health illness co-according with some kind of substance misuse,” she explained.
“We know that prevalence rates of concurrent disorders are higher than the general population."
The not-for-profit organization and the university received a $100,000 grant from the Mental Health Research Canada and the Knowledge Institute On Child And Youth Mental Health and Addictions organization.
The study will focus on the neuro-psychology related to addictions, look to break stigmas in youth struggling with mental health and addictions and find concrete interventions and harm reduction.
"Then we’re taking that knowledge and putting it into the community. Are lessons learned? How we've built that capacity within our clinicians to better serve youth within our community," said Mintz.
“We want to help frontline staff to build skills, collaborate effectively and provide a common language and understanding of the latest research on the neuroscience of youth addiction.”
Dr. Andrew Weeks, the university’s psychology department chair, will study how trauma and addiction affects brain architecture, development and function.
Weeks said the research will benefit frontline mental health workers who help youth with these concurrent disorders.
"We need to think about that group of people differently when we think about addictions,” he said.
“The other part of it is to evaluate whether those programs that the Hands group is going to be implementing are making a difference."
Research shows that compared to other provinces, adolescents living in Ontario report higher rates of illicit drug use.
“We hope this vital knowledge will strengthen their ability to help these youth and families in need,” Weeks said.
“We have a fantastic lab and team here at Nipissing University and are excited to play an important role in such valuable work in this mental health field.”
Mintz said parents and caregivers in rural communities in northern Ontario face barriers in accessing appropriate services, a lack of clear referral pathways and a disconnect between assessments and interventions.
Additional training is required for professionals to address the complexity of issues for youth presenting with mental health and addiction issues.
o Download our app to get local alerts on your device
o Get the latest local updates right to your inbox
In the District of Nipissing, there is only one youth addiction worker while the District Municipality of Muskoka has four.
"Concurrent disorders should be treated in an integrated way,” said Mintz.
“We would look towards having sustainability built into the project so future clinicians coming into the community would receive that training on concurrent disorders."
The research will take about a year to complete.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Which Canadian cities have the highest and lowest grocery prices?
Where you live plays a big factor in what you pay at the grocery store. And while it's no secret the same item may have a different price depending on the store, city or province, we wanted to see just how big the differences are, and why.
'State or state-sponsored actor' believed to be behind B.C. government hacks
The head of British Columbia’s civil service has revealed that a “state or state-sponsored actor” is behind multiple cyber-security incidents against provincial government networks.
Swarm of 20,000 bees gather around woman’s car west of Toronto
A swarm of roughly 20,000 bees gathered around a woman’s car in the parking lot of Burlington Centre.
Mother assaulted by stranger while breastfeeding baby in her car: Vancouver police
A person was arrested in East Vancouver Thursday after allegedly entering a car while a mother was breastfeeding her four-month-old boy.
More than half the Canadians once detained in Syrian camps for suspected ISIS family members have returned home
A total of 29 Canadians have been freed from detention camps in northeast Syria and brought back to Canada since human rights advocates began lobbying for their release years ago.
Rare severe solar storm Friday could bring spectacular aurora light show across Canada
A rare and severe solar storm is expected to bring spectacular displays of the northern lights, also known as aurora borealis, across much of Canada and parts of the United States on Friday night.
Canada abstains from Palestinian UN membership vote but supports two-state solution
Canada was one of 25 countries that abstained from a United Nations vote on Palestinian membership that passed with overwhelming support on Friday.
Amish youth experience a rite of passage called Rumspringa. It’s not what you might think
The idea of “Rumspringa” has a specific spot in the American imagination. A rite of passage for young people in some Amish communities, Rumspringa is seen by most outsiders as a wild time away from strict Amish rules, when teenagers can experiment with the modern vices of the world.
Djokovic needs medical attention after getting knocked on the head by a water bottle at Italian Open
Novak Djokovic needed medical attention after apparently getting knocked on the head by a water bottle after a win at the Italian Open on Friday.