Research Activities (5 Year Plan)
Year 1
Identifying Young Adults Treatment Information Preferences: Individual Interviews and Focus Groups will be conducted with a diverse range young adults (ages 18-25) from the Winnipeg and Toronto areas. Quantitative research will also be gathered (via a paper and pencil survey). The young adult sample will consist of those who are disadvantaged and experiencing emotional distress as well as those who are not disadvantaged and experiencing emotional distress. Young adult participants may or may not be considering seeking help. Research questions will focus on why they might consider seeking information or assistance, what types of information they would consider important and helpful, where they might look for information, how they could receive the information, whom they might contact to find information, when it would be best to receive information and potential barriers to receiving information they would like. Consulting with Young Adults’ Allies: Joint focus groups will be conducted with the young adult participants and their allies (i.e., those individuals that they indicated they would seek information and advice from). Gathering information from allies can contribute to the identification of information to mobilize, as well as the barriers and facilitators of information uptake in key setting where young adults seek information.
Year 2
Consumer Preference Modeling (CPM): This project will use methods from marketing research to inform the design of a strategy for providing information about mental health to young adults. Using themes from Year 1ís projects, we will design a survey process to identify those mental health information content, process and outcome attributes which are most important to a large sample of young adults. We will explore the preferences of different segments of young adults and simulate optimal mental health information transfer strategies for each segment.
Year 3
Information gathered from Years 1 & 2 will be synthesized and then translated into formats that are preferred by young adults. Young adults will help design the formats for the mental health information and resources.
Year 4
The formatted mental health resources and materials will be pre-tested and then field tested (i.e., evaluated) in real-world settings.
Year 5
A wide-scale dissemination of these resources will be conducted throughout Canada with the help of our community stakeholders.