Developing
New Models
Enhancing Health Promotion
A
provincial youth-led VALIDITY
+ project, (which stands for "Vibrant Action Looking into Depression
in Today's Young Women"), explores depression in adolescent girls
in order to develop models and tools for prevention. A successful provincial
conference was held in March, bringing together young women and service
providers to develop strategies.
Collaborating with Partners
The
Centre's Youth Prevention Program team initiated a process to develop
drug education lesson plans.
Approved by the Ontario Curriculum Clearinghouse, the plans were developed
in English and French to meet the expectations of the substance use and
abuse component of the Health and Physical Education Curriculum (Grades
1-8). The plans were developed in collaboration with a team of over 30
partners province-wide.
The Incredible Years
A
promising preventive and empirically supported therapy adopted by the
Centre's Child Psychiatry Program is a parent training program called
"The Incredible Years." It is offered to parents seeking assistance
for managing the aggressive behaviours of their five- to 12-year-old children.
Emphasizing a positive collaborative approach between parents and facilitators,
the aim is to strengthen the compe-tency of parents and decrease children's
aggressive behaviour.
Aboriginal Service
The
Centre established an Aboriginal Service in response to addiction and
mental health issues facing the Toronto Aboriginal community. A needs-assessment
was completed followed by a conference in October -- "The Toronto
Aboriginal Experience: A Journey of Healing." Although still in its
infancy stage, the service has been doing outreach at the local and national
level to build partnerships.
Youth Advisory Committee
Newly
formed, the Youth Advisory Committee (YAC) engages and involves youth
in program development and planning. Since its inception, members have
organized and facilitated a portion of the planning for an annual Youth
Program team meeting and have sent representatives from a number of different
youth groups to present their perceptions and experiences regarding issues
that are important in the fields of addiction and mental health. The YAC
continues to work on projects relating to meaningful youth involvement.
Sharing
Knowledge
FOCUS Resource Centre (FRC) -- Creation of a Network
The
FOCUS Resource Centre has created a network that provides internal and
external networking, consultation, training, information, knowledge exchange
and dissemination to 22 communities, their partners and networks across
Ontario. The hub of service delivery is an independent Web site -- www.frcentre.net
-- that provides the medium for these services, although in-person and
on-site service delivery are also part of the activities. The FRC provides
accessible information that enhances health promotion skills, knowledge
and networking capabilities.
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Targeting
Special Populations
Low-Risk Drinking Guidelines
Low-risk
drinking guidelines (LRDG), which were first released in 1997, have been
reinforced with the introduction of new materials and dissemination strategies
including a plain language brochure, public service announcements and
campaign support materials. The Centre, in partnership with the Ontario
Public Health Association and the Association of Local Public Health Agencies,
supports professional inter-mediaries in their efforts to promote the
LRDG across Ontario. A Web site, http://www.lrdg.net
was launched this past spring.
Youth Program
The
highly successful SAPACCY
(Substance Abuse Program for African Canadian and Caribbean Youth) launched
a prevention program targeted toward middle school students to reach youth
as young as nine years old. During the 12-week program, staff noticed
marked changes in the well-being and esteem of these children. Teachers
and parents were educated as well.
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1-800-463-6273
