Grants to fund research on youth mental health, MAID and global health equity
Photo credit: Margo Yacheshyn / University Relations
Major grant funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) will support three multi-year projects led by UBC Okanagan researchers.
The funding is granted through CIHR’s Project Grant: Fall 2023 competition, which is designed to support ideas with the greatest potential to advance health-related knowledge, research, care, systems and/or outcomes. Three researchers from UBCO’s Faculty of Health and Social Development were awarded grants for their projects related to youth mental health, medical assistance in dying (MAID) and global health equity.
Dr. Shelly Ben-David from the School of Social Work is leading a four-year project to develop a digital toolkit designed to increase the amount of underprivileged youth accessing mental health services in Canada.
Focusing on integrated youth services, which put multiple types of in-person and digital services from mental health to substance use in one place, the researchers will develop the toolkit curriculum and test whether youths who use this tool decide to access the mental health services. Throughout the various stages, the study will also engage youth directly in the research with focus groups and teaching research skills.
In the School of Nursing, Dr. Barbara Pesut will study Track 2 MAID—the availability of medical assistance in dying (MAID) to people whose sole underlying medical conditions are serious mental disorders (now delayed until 2027).
In collaboration with co-principal investigators Dr. Michael McKenzie of BC Cancer Agency and Drs. Laurel Plewes and Sally E. Thorne of the UBC School of Nursing on the Vancouver campus, Dr. Pesut will study the experiences of applicants and family applying for, and receiving, MAID under Track 2 in order to contribute to policies and high-quality care. The research team will also interview those health-care providers charged with the difficult job of deciding who is eligible to receive MAID in these circumstances. The project involves knowledge sharing and workshops for both decision makers and the public.
The final project is focused on health equity and led by Dr. Katrina Plamondon from the School of Nursing with Dr. Elijah Bisung of Queen’s University, Dr. Susan J. Elliott of University of Waterloo and Dr. Elysée A. Nouvet of Western University.
Recognizing the gap between a vision for global health equity and following through, this team will test a training intervention designed to move equity intentions into action. Focusing on Canada’s global health research ecosystem, the researchers will study how equity is put into practice, evaluate how an intervention can build capacity, and develop consensus for excellence standards for equity.
Across both campuses, UBC researchers were awarded $31.3 million across 30 CIHR Project Grants and 16 Priority Announcement Grants in the Fall 2023 competition.