NorthBEAT Project

#northbeatproject

The NorthBEAT Project (2012-15) was a descriptive research project, funded by the Sick Kids Foundation in partnership with the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), that explored the service needs of adolescents who experience psychosis in Northern Ontario.

Background

Background

Psychosis, caused by serious mental illnesses such as schizophrenia, can devastate youth and their families. Psychosis requires early intervention and minimal duration of untreated illness for the best outcomes. Early psychosis intervention (EPI) is an evidence-based intervention to treat young people in the early stages of psychotic illness. EPI is an innovative, complex model consisting of core components including early detection and access facilitation.

In Northern Ontario (a region with an expansive geography and many Indigenous communities), programs struggle to understand and meet service needs. NorthBEAT was a 3-year, descriptive, mixed-methods research project which sought to understand the mental health service needs of youth who experience psychosis in Northern Ontario.

Research Question

Research Question

What are the perceived service needs of Indigenous and non-Indigenous youth in Northern Ontario who experience first episode psychosis?

Aims:

To understand how youth in Northern Ontario experience early psychosis and services for psychosis;
To understand what are the barriers to youth receiving appropriate EPI;
To examine Indigenous youth as a significant and vulnerable population in Northern Ontario.

Research Findings

Research Findings