Current projects Surviving Addiction Docuseries - Season 2 Project lead: Jennifer Bedford Community partners: Centre for Addictions and Mental Health Foundation; Chris Cull, Inspire by Example Funding source: Mitacs Business Strategy Internship program Duration: January 2025 – December 2025 Summary: The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), Canada's largest mental health teaching hospital, sets the standards for care, research, education and leading social change. The CAMH Foundation (CAMHF) works to financially support CAMH's high-priority research, education and advocacy needs. CAMHF has a mandate to raise funds that will improve mental health care for everyone by supporting the ecosystem of research, education and patient experience at CAMH. An effective way to reach new donors is by sharing stories that highlight diverse experiences of addiction and mental health. A partnership with Durham College and DC Alumni, Chris Cull, will enable CAMHF to access the video production expertise needed to further diversify and showcase new stories and experiences surrounding addiction and mental health, including those from Black and Indigenous communities. Two video production students from Durham College will be guided by CAMHF staff, Chris Cull and staff from the Social Impact Hub to create season two (6 episodes) of the docuseries. As an innovative addition to the academic curriculum, students will be exposed to mental health and addictions issues, as well as diverse perspectives from those with lived experience with addiction and/or supporting someone struggling with addiction and mental health concerns. Episodes from Season 1 can be viewed on the Surviving Addiction YouTube channel. Bridging the gap: Developing culturally responsive mental health care with and for Black Communities Project leads: Dr. Crystal Garvey, Jason Vassell, David Grant Community partners: The Regional Municipality of Durham, Ontario Shores Centre for Mental Health Sciences, Black Health Alliance, Health Research Council for People of African Descent Funding source: College and Community Social Innovation Fund (CCSIF) grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Duration: June 2024 – May 2027 Summary: In 2022, the Mental Health Commission of Canada found that 95% of Black Canadians feel the underutilization of mental health services is an issue that needs to be addressed. It was further noted that of 35% Black Canadians experiencing significant psychological distress, 34% did not seek mental health services. The research team consists of Black community-members and academics will undertake a multimethod Community-Based participatory action study exploring the experiences of Black patients and frontline workers in mental healthcare settings. Working with the Health Research Council for People of African Descent as well as the Regional Municipality of Durham, Black Health Alliance and Ontario Shores Centre for Mental Health Sciences, the study will explore experiences of Black community members and their caregivers when navigating the mental health system to seek support. In addition, experiences of frontline mental healthcare workers assessing and treating Black patients will also be explored. The research team alongside Black service users/caregivers and frontline workers will co-create mental health resources tailored to the needs of Black patients including development of self-advocacy, self-care and system navigation resources. The research team intends to create culturally responsive learning opportunities for frontline healthcare workers to assist in their interactions with Black patients. Partners and community networks will be able to share the outcomes broadly and ensure uptake and on-going use of the findings to improve their services and ensure frontline workers are trained and supported. Community-based exercise intervention for forensic patients: Barriers and impacts on physical and mental health Project leads: Dr. Erin Dancey, Dr. David Copithorne, Jennifer Bedford Community partners: Ontario Shores Centre for Mental Health Sciences, Abilities Centre Funding source: College and Community Social Innovation Fund (CCSIF) grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Duration: June 2024 – May 2027 Summary: Forensic psychiatry provides treatment for people who have been found not criminally responsible for an offence due to their mental illness and aims to improve mental health and reduce recidivism. Forensic patients with mental illness are more sedentary, have reduced levels of physical fitness, metabolic health, and Quality of Life (QoL) and are at a higher risk for obesity as compared to the general population. Furthermore, forensic patients are detained in a restrictive hospital setting and experience a loss of autonomy and a reduction in social connections. While there are substantial benefits associated with increasing social connections and exercise opportunities, environmental and institutional barriers limit access to these opportunities. The overall goal of the project is to develop an intervention that will reduce health disparities and inequities experienced by the forensic patient population in Canada by supporting improvements in health and QoL to address an important human rights concern. This project's objectives are to determine the barriers to engagement in a community-based exercise program. In addition, we will investigate the uptake, adherence, and impact of a community-based exercise intervention on physical fitness, QoL, mental illness and sleep quality in forensic patients at Ontario Shores. This research is in partnership with Ontario Shores, a public teaching hospital providing specialized assessment and treatment services for those living with complex and serious mental illness, and with the Abilities Centre, a community recreation centre. Benefits of this innovative intervention may include: low-cost intervention can be used in combination with medication, improving QoL and reducing the expenses and burden on the healthcare system; cost-effective as it provides patients with access to existing community resources and networks reducing demand on primary health care providers; supports the rehabilitation and community re- integration of patients receiving forensic mental health care, which is a persistent challenge. This will provide Abilities Centre with new tools for reaching individuals of marginalized groups, specifically those living with mental illness. Benefits to forensics patients will lead to return on investment for Ontario Shores so that they can expand this program to other patients, including general psychiatry patients and outpatients with mood and anxiety disorders. Raising Resilient Families: Empowering Parents with Cognitive Challenges Raising Resilient Families: Empowering Parents with Cognitive Challenges Project Lead: Amanda Cappon, School of Health and Community Services; Kay Corbier, School of Health and Community Services Community Partners: The Regional Municipality of Durham, Huntington Society of Canada, Starfish Parent Support Program, Durham Association for Family Resources and Support, Durham Children’s Aid Society, Brock University, University of Toronto Funding Source: College and Community Social Innovation Fund (CCSIF) – Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Duration: June 2021 – May 2024 Summary: All parents, including those with Intellectual and/or Developmental Disabilities (ID/DD), play a critical role in child development especially in the early years before peers become a prominent factor. As individuals with ID/DD become parents, they may require individualized supports (learning how to diaper, feed, bathe, bedtime routines, etc.) to foster a safe and healthy environment for their child to avoid removal of the child from the family home. Unfortunately, skills-building supports are not always appropriate or available to this population and therefore the objective of this project is to develop a model of support that is proactive and addresses the social issues that impact these parents, including trauma, institutionalization, and violation of human rights based on best practices identified and input from parents with ID/DD as well as key partners. Co-production and community-based participatory research methodologies will be used to investigate challenges and barriers for families impacted by ID/DD with the goal of forging early intervention strategies with community partners that honour the strengths of families, ultimately eliminating the need to remove a child from their family or cultural community.
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