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Youth mental health and substance use in the context of COVID-19

COVID-19 Research Area(s): Healthcare Delivery & Policy, Mental Health & Wellbeing, Social Impacts

With the introduction of Foundry (foundrybc.ca) in 2015, BC has re-imagined how youth access and receive care, including physical and mental health services. As of March 2020, 1000 youth/month were accessing Foundry in-person services. COVID-19 pandemic has transformed how care in BC needs to be delivered and experienced. This study will understand the impacts of this rapid service redesign for this population. We will have three periods of qualitative data collection (July, September, February).

There is minimal research on mental health and substance use (MHSU) among youth during pandemics, limiting our ability to meet the needs of youth. COVID-19 presents a time-sensitive opportunity to rapidly enhance knowledge about the impacts of a public health crisis on MHSU among youth, reduce negative impacts and amplify coping strategies, and improve readiness to respond to future pandemics. This project addresses these challenges in four ways. 1) A survey will be conducted to rapidly understand how COVID-19 is affecting youth MHSU over time, how youth are coping, what challenges they have overcome, and what public health response strategies they recommend. We have already surveyed 622 youth and produced preliminary results; funding will enable us to track the experience of these youth for a year. 2) We will conduct interviews with youth over 9 months to further understand impacts over time. 3) Based on each wave of findings, we will partner with our Youth Engagement Initiative to develop innovative materials and interventions to address expressed youth needs. 4) We will conduct participatory action research summits in Ontario and British Columbia to mobilize the perspectives and voices of youth with MHSU concerns to examine youth-designed pandemic response materials, plan for future pandemic responses, and collect any further insights about the pandemic's impacts.

Post date: 
Jul 16, 2020