The Infant and Early Mental Health (IEMH) Care Pathways initiative promotes a multi-sectoral collaborative approach to enhance Canada’s service integration and access for at-risk children birth to six. By engaging community partners, mapping existing services, and developing aspirational care pathways, the workshop on the initiative addresses inequitable systemic barriers, as well as introduces methods to improve communication and foster coordinated efforts across sectors. This comprehensive approach highlighted in the workshop aims to transform the fragmented mental health care system into a cohesive network, ensuring timely and effective support for young children, thereby driving significant improvements at the systems level.

Additional authors: Bukola Salami (Full Professor, Department of Community Health Sciences, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary); Ruth Martinez-Vega (Research Associated, Department of Community Health Sciences, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary); Temitope Ogunleye (Research Student, Department of Community Health Sciences, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary); Aloysius Nwabugo Maduforo (Research Manager, Black and Racial Health Equity (BARE) Research Program, Department of Community Health Sciences, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary); Modupe Tunde-Byass (Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto); Dominic Alaazi (School of Health Studies, University of Western Ontario); Alicia Boatswain-Kyte (School of Social Work, McGill University); Azeez Salami (Alberta Health Services); Kimberley Price (Faculty of Nursing, University of Alberta); Dzifa Dordunoo (School of Nursing, University of Victoria); Barbara-Ann Hamilton-Hinch (School of Health and Human Performance, Dalhousie University); Geoffrey Maina (College of Nursing, University of Saskatchewan); Notisha Massaquoi (Department of Health and Society, University of Toronto); Folajinmi Oluwasina (University of Alberta and Red Deer Polytechnic); Chanda Mwansa (Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary); Victoria Atilola (Department of Community Health Sciences, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary); Noah Boakye-Yiadom (Department of Community Health Sciences, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary); Bello Oluwakanyinsola (Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary); Andre Renzaho (School of Medicine, Western Sydney University)

This workshop introduces a participatory research project that developed a guidance document with 61 recommendations for delivering mental health services to Black youth in Canada, focusing on community, primary care, and educational settings. The process involved five phases: 1) building an advisory committee, 2) conducting a scoping review, 3) drafting a guidance document, 4) conducting focus groups, and 5) incorporating Black youth’s perspectives into the guidance. The resulting document includes 61 recommendations. These recommendations offer a framework for consistent, equitable mental healthcare, and represent a meaningful step toward social inclusion and equity.

Young people under the age of 25, or young carers, may take on significant responsibilities providing care for someone. Young carers have reported feeling dismissed and not having their voices heard in healthcare interactions. Through this workshop, participants will learn about the RISE Up project, which included a national survey of healthcare providers’ abilities to support young carers and a novel toolkit for providers to support young carers in clinical practice. Participants will be equipped with strategies and resources to address the needs of young carers and care recipients, with a focus on autonomy and the nuances of care dynamics.

Eating disorders (ED) are prevalent and affect diverse youth, although pervasive stereotypes make it challenging for minoritized youth to meaningfully engage in advocacy, research, and peer support. Online spaces provide a unique opportunity to engage youth who are diverse by gender identity, body size, racial and ethnic identity, income, and geography to meaningfully contribute to ED work or seek support for ED concerns. This interactive workshop will draw upon presenters’ experiences with virtual youth engagement and community-building in EDs. We will detail successes, describe challenges, and provide participants the opportunity to apply these practices to youth engagement in mental health.

Additional authors: Kristina Fuentes-Aiello (Research Lead, FCHI, IBH)

This workshop explores the co-design journey of a paediatric Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) satellite clinic at Trillium Health Partners. Grounded in Community-Based Participatory Research and Human-Centered Design, the project centers the lived experiences of individuals in shaping care models. Attendees will learn about our “Future Workshops”, interactive sessions co-led by Peer Research Assistants with lived experience, alongside caregivers, service providers, and patients. Participatory design offers a powerful means to address structural inequities and transform paediatric care, leveraging creativity, collaboration, and community leadership.

Workshop participants will learn about a mixed methods participatory research process conducted by lived experience researchers, a university research lab and a public health agency, and our ongoing work with a local network of organizations invested in addressing early adversity by fostering community resilience. The workshop objectives are: 1. Describe a collaborative and participatory research project designed to generate and apply local knowledge about parenting and early adversity; 2. Share descriptive findings and our team’s evidence-based resources and describe how they have been/will be mobilized and applied; and 3. Discuss collaborative and participatory research for health equity with participants.

Additional authors: Ofodile Joe-Uzuegbu (Resident, Department of Medicine, University of Calgary & Alberta Children’s Hospital Research Institute, University of Calgary); Ulises Charles-Rodriguez (Postdoctoral Fellow, Alberta Children’s Research Institute, University of Calgary)

This interactive workshop presents results from a scoping review, environmental scan, and national focus groups to define a core set of disaggregated demographic data elements for pediatric electronic health records (EHRs). These efforts aim to address persistent health inequities by standardizing and ethically integrating social determinants of health (SDOH) into child health systems. Participants will explore practical, culturally responsive data collection approaches grounded in community engagement and intersectionality. Drawing on national policy gaps and voices from equity-deserving populations, the session offers tools for embedding equity into health system data infrastructure.

Additional authors: Nancy Antone (Indigenous Provincial Lead – Telepsychiatry – TeleMental Health Program, The Hospital for Sick Children); Lekhini Bhatt (Psychiatry Resident, University of Toronto); Lauren Hishon (Child & Adolescent Psychiatry Resident, University of Ottawa); Philippe Hwang (Child & Adolescent Psychiatry Resident, University of Ottawa); Athena Ko (Psychiatry Resident, University of Ottawa); Marijana Jovanovic (Program Director – Child & Adolescent Psychiatry Residency Training Program, University of Ottawa); Chetana Kulkarni (Child & Adolescent Psychiatrist and Education Lead – TeleMental Health Program, The Hospital for Sick Children); Raj Rasasingham (Medical Lead – Child, Adolescent & Transitional Aged Youth, Humber River Health); Erinna Brown (Child & Adolescent Psychiatrist, CHEO); Jennifer dela Paz (EDI Curriculum Lead, Psychiatry Residency Training Program, Western University); Ayan Dey (Psychiatry Resident, University of Toronto); Oshan Fernando (Research Associate, University of Toronto); Liisa Johnston (Child & Adolescent Psychiatrist, CHEO); Joshua Smalley (Child & Adolescent Psychiatrist, CHEO)

Although equity-focused initiatives have been increasingly being prioritized in health professions education, the question remains of how to most effectively build curricula that meaningfully engage those with lived/living expertise and that have sustained impact amidst a rapidly shifting social climate. This interactive workshop aims to address this gap by providing participants with key knowledge, skills, practical strategies, connections, and resources (focusing on Indigenous, 2SLGBTQ+, and newcomer/refugee youth populations). A multi-institutional project involving the co-design of e-modules for youth mental healthcare providers alongside youth with lived/living expertise will be shared as a case study and launching point for discussion.

Navigating the mental health and addiction (MHA) system is complex —especially for service providers supporting racialized, marginalized, and underserved youth. This workshop shares how Family Navigation Project (FNP) enhances access to care through Peer-to-Peer Consultations and “Meet & Greets”. These informal, relationship-centered strategies build system knowledge, foster inter-agency collaboration, and reduce service fragmentation. Participants will explore real-world examples and reflect on how to adapt these models in their own settings to better serve youth and families facing barriers to care.

Additional authors: Jamie Dawdy (Public Health Nurse, Early Years Program Halton Region Public Health); Sandra Evans (Public Health Nurse, Chronic Disease Prevention Program Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit); Erin Tardiff Heldmann (Health Promotion and Research Analyst Region of Waterloo Public Health and Paramedic Services); Charlotte Knegt (Public Health Nurse, Chronic Disease Prevention Program Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit); Becky Mann (Program Manager, Healthy Growth and Development Program Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit); Emily Martyn (Project Manager (Adverse Childhood Experiences Strategy) Toronto Public Health)

The Ontario Early Adversity and Resilience Framework is a call for collective action across sectors and aims to inspire and mobilize communities to work together to develop innovative and meaningful solutions that address the drivers of adversity, strengthen protective factors, build resilience, and support healing in families and communities. The framework was developed through province-wide collaboration and extensive consultation with leaders in fields related to childhood adversity and resilience. Participants will explore early adversity and resilience through interactive discussions, gaining an understanding of the framework and learning how to apply evidence-based strategies tailored to their community’s needs and local context.

The Helix Foundation’s Youth Advisory Team (YAT) came together in the spring of 2025 with the purpose of working together on advocacy and research related to at-risk youth and mental health and well-being. This Advisory Team was chosen for their lived experiences with homelessness, racism, homophobia, and more. The YAT decided to focus their efforts on a unique website which provides reviews on services that marginalized youth use, including employment, youth shelters and mental health.

This workshop will include a discussion led by YAT members as they talk about what they learned during the creation of this resource, where the gaps for at-risk youth still remain, and what they hope others can think of when they are doing work with structurally vulnerable youth.

Moral distress is experienced when our core values (either personal, our practice/profession or integrity) are compromised because of external constraints. Structural distress is a unique form of moral distress, that results in feelings of powerlessness when healthcare workers witness structural inequities, anti-indigenous racism, and discrimination (Sukhera et al 2021). This workshop will provide healthcare workers providing care for children, youth and families to identify, address and mitigate structural distress and its harms. This workshop will create a safe space for discussion and strategy building for staff who may have experienced or witnessed racism and discrimination in their practice/delivery of healthcare.