Fact Sheet – Patient-Oriented Network in Adolescent and Youth Mental Health

[ Press Release 2012-55 ]

Government of Canada Funding through CIHR: $12,500,000 over five years.
Partner Funding: Graham Boeckh Foundation: $12,500,000 over five years.
Total Funding: $25,000,000 over five years

Description:
Mental illness affects many Canadians. One in five Canadians will experience a mental illness in their lifetime. Major depression impacts 8% of people and schizophrenia affects 1%. Seventy percent of mental health problems and illnesses have their onset during childhood or adolescence, and young people aged 15-24 are more likely to report mental illness disorders than any other age group.

Unfortunately, many promising solutions that are found to be effective are only implemented within the academic settings in which they were developed. That is, they do not find their way to the health practitioners throughout Canada who need them on the front lines of health care delivery.

To bridge this gap between research evidence and mental health practice, the Government of Canada, through the Canadian Institute of Health Research (CIHR), and the Graham Boeckh Foundation (GBF) have partnered to establish a precedent-setting Patient-Oriented Network in Adolescent and Youth Mental Health.

This Network will coordinate the involvement of patients, families, policy-makers, health practitioners, researchers, and other stakeholders to make sure that evidence-based findings are effectively implemented across all of Canada, and in a wide range of contexts, to achieve success on a national scale.

The focus of the Network is adolescent and youth mental health (approximately 11-25 years of age). It is the first Network launched under the Strategy for Patient Oriented Research (SPOR). The goal of the Network is to improve mental health care in Canada by translating research into practice and policy.

About the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR):
CIHR is the Government of Canada's health research investment agency. CIHR's mission is to create new scientific knowledge and to enable its translation into improved health, more effective health services and products, and a strengthened Canadian health care system. Composed of 13 Institutes, CIHR provides leadership and support to more than 14,100 health researchers and trainees across Canada.

About the Graham Boeckh Foundation:
The Graham Boeckh Foundation (GBF) is a private foundation created by Anthony Boeckh and his family to fund initiatives in the area of mental health and other related disciplines. GBF aims to improve mental health care in Canada by strategically leading and funding projects in basic research, research translation, and community outreach.