Dr. Steve Mathias, Executive Director of Foundry and Co-Scientific Director, HYPE; Joël Lightbound, Parliamentary Secretary for Health; Kate Young, Parliamentary Secretary for Science; and Dr. Ian Manion Co-Scientific Director, HYPE.
Today, the federal government announced $4.8 million in funding for three new networks under the International Knowledge Translation Platforms initiative of the Networks of Centres of Excellence (NCE). One of the project recipients, Healthy Young People Everywhere (HYPE) will address urgent treatment priorities and the need for improved knowledge sharing in youth mental health and addiction services in Canada and abroad.
Youth in Canada and around the world face unprecedented mental health and addiction challenges. Up to one in five young Canadians is estimated to have a diagnosable mental illness, yet services and care tend to be fragmented and under-resourced. HYPE will address urgent priorities in youth mental health and addiction service delivery and international knowledge sharing by identifying research gaps and facilitating the sharing of evidence. Integrated Stepped Care Models, which ensure access to monitored, coordinated care and treatment matched to needs, are emerging as the preferred evidence-based and cost-effective way to treat YMHA disorders.
The project is co-led by Foundry’s executive director, Dr. Steve Mathias and Dr. Ian Manion of Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre, and includes over 100 partner individuals and organizations across Canada and in nine other countries. Their work engages youth and their families and generates the scientific framework to ensure evidence is integrated into practice and policy.
“The health of our young people, including their mental health, is critical to ensuring a strong and healthy Canada today and in the future. Through our support for the Healthy Young People Everywhere (HYPE) network, the Government of Canada is helping health care providers improve mental health care, and make a meaningful difference in the lives of young Canadians.”
– The Honourable Jane Philpott, Minister of Health
Project recipients also include the International Collaboration for Excellence and Innovation in Mental Health in Corrections (I-CEIsMIC), and the Supply Chain Advancement Network in Health (SCAN Health). Recipients will each receive $1.6 million in funding over the next four years. Read the full news release here.
“Our current systems of youth mental health care are not sustainable. Governments, service providers, researchers and advocates are just some of those who are hungry for evidence to guide their efforts to build systems that better meet the holistic needs of youth. They also need support in the implementation and sustainability of such efforts. The HYPE Network represents an important bridge between research policy and practice. There has never been a better time for such global collaboration and action.”
– Ian Manion and Steve Mathias, Co-Scientific Directors, Co-Scientific Directors, HYPE