D3-1: Making a Difference: Advancing Children’s Mental Health Promotion Through Equity
Supporting 60 mental health projects across Canada, the Knowledge Development and Exchange Hub for Mental Health Promotion (KDE Hub) is a government funded centre dedicated to mobilizing mental health knowledge including a focus on children and youth. In this interactive presentation, the KDE Hub and community-based projects funded by the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) and Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) will showcase innovative equity-based approaches that improve the mental wellbeing of children and youth. Emphasis will be placed on operationalizing the concept of equity by applying a social determinant of health lens and highlighting culturally responsive programs that support positive mental health. The importance of acknowledging local contexts, multiple knowledges and ways of knowing, and the social determinants of health characterize how the projects showcased in this workshop incorporated both broad equity practices while tailoring upstream and intervention approaches to specific populations. Practice examples and discussion questions will be woven throughout an interactive presentation, encouraging active audience participation.
Presenters:
Dr. Colleen McMillan: Associate Professor, School of Social Work, Renison University College, University of Waterloo, Ontario combines three decades of applied practices of mental health and interdisciplinary work with an academic and practice setting. Serving as KDE Hub Scientific Co-Director, she supports system change through interdisciplinary collaboration and centering multiple voices and knowledges.
Dr. Alice Schmidt Hanbidge: Associate Professor, School of Social Work, Renison University College, University of Waterloo, Ontario combines two decades of applied practices of community health work within an academic setting. Serving as KDE Hub Scientific Co-Director, she supports the integration of national mental health promotion with research, policy and practice.
D3-2: Implementing Culturally Responsive Programs: Showcasing Examples From Research and Practice
Approaches to mental health and addictions services in North America have been developed in a colonial context that centers the cultural values of white, European communities. This creates significant barriers for children, young people and families from racialized and Indigenous communities seeking mental health supports and not finding options that reflect their values and traditions. How does one go about adapting an evidence-based program (EBP) or making sure programs and services meet the needs of racialized children, young people and families? In this session, we will present an overview of definitions and evidence-based frameworks for culturally adapting EBPs. We provide examples from research and from agencies that are working towards providing culturally responsive services. For example, adaptations in eight areas based on the ecological validity model will be discussed. The session will profile some agencies who are recent recipients of the Innovation Initiatives from the Knowledge Institute on Child and Youth Mental Health and Addictions. These include the integration of the Sankofa approach in adapting the Stop Now And Plan® for Black children and families; and adapting cognitive behavioral therapy and other trauma-informed interventions for newcomer, immigrant and refugee children, young people and families from Muslim communities. We present lessons we’re learning and how we’re addressing some challenges we’re meeting along the way.
Presenters:
Evangeline Danseco, PhD, CE is a Senior Researcher at the Knowledge Institute on Child and Youth Mental Health and Addictions. She is a credentialled evaluator from the Canadian Evaluation Society since 2012. With a degree in Applied Developmental Psychology, she has worked on various research and evaluation projects including cultural aspects of human development. She is the lead for the Knowledge Institute’s Innovation Initiatives and recent system-wide efforts relating to racial equity, evaluation of system-wide efforts, and performance measurement evidence-informed decision-making.
Floydeen Charles-Fridal is the executive director of the Caribbean African Canadian Social Services. Floydeen has worked in the non-profit sector for over 25 years. She is one of the founding members of ACCHO (The African and Caribbean Council on HIV/AIDS in Ontario) and a founding member and past President of the Board of Directors for TAIBU Community Health Centre in Scarborough. Floydeen is a recipient of the prestigious Joe Leonard Award through the Association of Ontario Health Centres for outstanding contributions to community health. She is also a recipient of the City of Toronto’s Public Health Champion and the 2022 DreamKEEPERS Life Achievement award. At the national level, Floydeen is collaborating with the Delmore “Buddy” Daye Learning Institute in Halifax, Nova Scotia and others for the inaugural Canadian Institute for Persons of African Descent (CIPAD).
Laura Deyell is a Manager, Quality at Vanier Children’s Mental Wellness. Laura supports both the Lead Agency and quality improvement work and demonstrates a strong commitment to quality and efficiency. Laura’s passion for equity, diversity, inclusion and belonging allowed her the opportunity to work on the project adapting cognitive behavioral therapy for newcomer, immigrant and refugee children, young people and families from Muslim communities.
