AoM is a pan-Canadian youth mental health network jointly funded by GBF and CIHR. The network has 16 community sites across the country, including in six Indigenous communities. Interim results highlight how AoM has been able to address important shortcomings of traditional youth mental health services by taking an integrated approach services design. The results demonstrate the following about AoM’s service transformation: 

• Very high satisfaction with services among youth (96%)
• A drastic reduction in wait times: 84% of youth were seen within 72 hours of first contact
• Significant improvements in distress and overall functioning
• The AoM model contributed to reductions in hospitalizations and emergency room visits.
• Results from the Edmonton site indicate each dollar invested in AoM resulted in about $10 of service costs avoided.

More results can be found here. As well, you can check out AoM’s YouTube channel for some promotional videos produced by Bell.

 

 

“Building strength: Transformational research in adolescent mental health” describes the path-breaking public-philanthropic partnership between GBF and CIHR. The goal was to transform youth mental health care across Canada. The partnership created a call for proposals branded as TRAM (Transformation Research in Adolescent Mental Health). TRAM was designed from the ground up to be an innovative, multi-sectorial process that would ultimately involve many hundreds of people from across the country. The call led to the funding of the ACCESS Open Minds Network and was instrumental in paving the way for the pan-Canadian movement now known as Integrated Youth Services.