Human beings are extremely complex social animals, perhaps the most complex. At this point in our species ’ evolution, we are interlinked with others around the globe politically, economically, and environmentally. We have created an elaborate world of social interconnections that one must navigate in order to succeed. Following social rules and conforming to social role expecta-tions are critical for positive adaptation in the peer group, the family, the workplace and society at large. Most human beings are capable of juggling a number of different social roles simultaneously and with relative ease. At this moment, you might be simultaneously a parent and a child; a teacher and a learner; a friend, acquaintance and enemy; an employer and an employee; an aunt or uncle and a niece or nephew; a competitor and a collaborator and so on. How and when do we develop these complex social skills? From whom do we learn them? And what happens to those who fail to develop adequate social and emotional competence? Outside of the family, schools are one of the more pervasive socializing contexts, helping children to acquire the appropriate behaviors and values needed to become acceptable and productive members of society. Traditionally, North American schools and teacher training programs have focused almost exclusively on the academic curriculum or what is sometimes referred to as the “three R’s”: reading, ‘riting, and ‘rithmetic. Yet a growing body of research points to the importance of a fourth “R ” of schooling: relationships (e.g., Jaffe, Wolfe, Crooks, Hughes, & Baker, 2004). It takes more than academic compe-tence to succeed in life. Researchers, educators and laypersons have long understood that there is more to intelligent performance than that which is 1

In presenting this thesis in partial fulfillment of the requirements for a Postgraduate degree from the University of Saskatchewan, I agree that the Libraries of this University may make it freely available for inspection. I further agree that permission for copying of this thesis in any manner, in whole or in part, for scholarly purposes may be granted by the professor or professors who supervised my thesis work or, in their absence, the Head of the Department or the Department of the College in which my thesis work was done. It is understood that any copying ir publication or use of this thesis or parts thereof for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. It is also understood that due recognition shall be given to me and to the University of Saskatchewan in any scholarly use which may be made of any material in my thesis. Requests for permission to copy or make other uses of materials in this thesis in whole or part should be addressed to: Head of the Department of Educational Psychology and Special Education

An evaluation of ‘Reach Out Central’: an online gaming program for supporting the mental health of young people

An evaluation of ‘Reach Out Central’: an online gaming program for supporting the mental health of young people

mental health, poverty, and school tilleczek et al. doi:10.7870/cjcmh-2014-006 published by canadian periodical for community studies inc.

Introduction: The Shared Care model, originally developed to address the paucity of adult mental health resources, has potential applicability to the design and delivery of mental health services for children and youth. With a similar prevalence of mental illness and more difficulty accessing mental health care than adults, Canadian children and youth have been even less well served than their parents. As there is a significant overlap in the types of health concerns for which children and youth are seen by mental health clinicians and paediatricians, building improved collaboration between these groups is an

Objective: 1) Assess perceived barriers associated with metabolic monitoring in second-generation antipsychotic (SGA)-treated youth; and 2) Propose a metabolic monitoring protocol (MMP) and implementation strategies. Method: Online surveys were created for community mental health teams (CMHTs) and BC Children’s Hospital (BCCH) with questions designed to evaluate knowledge of physical health care, confidence, communication with primary care, and practical issues.Results: 26/50 (52%) of CMHT and 44/111 (40%) of BCCH surveys were completed. While both groups agreed that monitoring is their responsibility, 26% of CMHTs and 35 % of BCCH professionals agreed that providing information about SGA side-effects would influence medication adherence. CMHTs reported lower overall confidence and more practical issues as monitoring barriers. While higher overall confidence was reported at BCCH, there was still a substantial proportion (23%) of hospital professionals who reported not knowing what parameters to monitor and how frequently. Communication with primary care, including inadequate systems for sharing results and identifying responsibility for acting on abnormal results, appear to be common barriers shared by both settings. Conclusions: Barriers to metabolic monitoring were more frequently reported by CMHTs who had limited access to nursing staff. We propose hands-on training, educational resources, pre-printed orders, and regular quality assurance evaluation as facilitators to promote MMP uptake.

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