Dr. Cheng will be presenting two posters at the IEPA 2016 10th biennial conference in Milan, Italy on October 20-22, 2016. The two posters are on the results and next steps of NorthBEAT at:
- NorthBEAT: Final framework from narrative interviews to explore the needs of youth in remote/northern Canada
Poster A136, Thursday, October 20, 11:30 am – 1:00 pm, LaBaron - NorthBEAT: A mixed-method approach to examine the needs of youth in Northern and rural Canada
Poster C22, Saturday, October 22, 11:30 am – 1:00 pm, LaBaron
For those interested in viewing the posters from afar, the final pdfs will be uploaded to Chi’s slideshare closer to the conference dates. The IEPA will also post IEPA 2016 presentations to their Virtual Conference Library, where you can also take a look at Chi’s presentations in Tokyo (IEPA 2014).
Abstracts below.
NorthBEAT: Final framework from narrative interviews to explore the needs of youth in remote/northern Canada
IEPA 2016 Poster A136, Thursday, October 20, 11:30 am – 1:00 pm, LaBaron
Chiachen Cheng1,2, Shevaun Nadin2, Mae Katt3, Carole Lem4, Carolyn Dewa4,5, Bruce Minore3;
1Centre for Applied Health Research – St. Joseph’s Care Group, Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada, 2Canadian Mental Health Association – Thunder Bay Branch, Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada, 3Lakehead University, Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada, 4Centre for Research on Employment and Workplace Health – Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 5Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences – University of California, Davis, California, USA
Objectives: At IEPA 2014 in Tokyo, we presented preliminary results from narrative interviews in the NorthBEAT project. NorthBEAT (Barriers to Early Assessment and Treatment) is a descriptive mixed-method project addressing the perceived service needs of Indigenous and non-Indigenous youth in Northern Ontario who experience first episode psychosis. In Northern Ontario (a central-province in Canada with an expansive geography with many Indigenous communities), programs struggle to understand and meet service needs. The complete study is highlighted in a separate presentation. This presentation focuses on the framework developed from narrative interviews with youth, family care-givers, and EPI service providers. Approach: Qualitative interviews were conducted in northern regions of Ontario. Participants were: youth ≤18 years old experiencing psychosis, their family care-givers, and rural EPI service providers. Sampling was by snowball (service providers) and convenience (youth & caregivers) techniques. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and coded for themes by two authors. Thematic maps were created to illustrate findings and results validated through a series of participant workshops. Results: Through inductive analysis of interviews, and dialogue with stakeholders/participants, we gained an understanding of: how youth in North Ontario experience early psychosis and services for psychosis; the barriers and facilitators for youth receiving appropriate early psychosis intervention in Northern Ontario, whether culture plays a role in the intersection between psychosis, Indigenous people, and rural or remote geography. Conclusions: The framework developed represents thematic maps – initial steps to understanding how to decrease barriers to early assessment and treatment, and meet service needs of youth who experience psychosis.
Topic Area: Translational Research
NorthBEAT: A mixed-method approach to examine the needs of youth in Northern and rural Canada
IEPA 2016 Poster C22, Saturday, October 22, 11:30 am – 1:00 pm, LaBaron
Chiachen Cheng1,2, Shevaun Nadin1,3, Mae Katt3, Carole Lem1, Carolyn S. Dewa4,5, Bruce Minore3;
1Centre for Applied Health Research – St. Joseph’s Care Group, Thunder Bay, 2Canadian Mental Health Association – Thunder Bay Branch, 3Lakehead University, 4Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, 5Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences – University of California, Davis
Background/Objectives: At the 2014 IEPA meeting in Tokyo, we presented preliminary results from our narrative interviews in the NorthBEAT (Barriers to Early Assessment and Treatment) project. NorthBEAT is a mixed-method project that explored the service needs of Indigenous and non-Indigenous youth in Northern Ontario who experience first episode psychosis. In Northern Ontario (a region with an expansive geography and many Indigenous communities), programs struggle to understand and meet service needs. The narrative interviews are highlighted in a separate presentation. This presentation will focus on the findings from the complete study. Approach: A mixed-methods approach was adopted. Qualitative interviews explored adolescents’ experience with accessing mental health services for their psychosis (participants were youth ≤18 years old who have experienced psychosis, their family care-givers, and rural mental health service providers who were recruited from 10 project sites across all of Northern Ontario). Structured assessments were conducted on a subsample of the youth to gain a snapshot of their functional status. End-of-grant workshops also held with project participants and stakeholders to verify interpretation of the study results and explore modes of knowledge exchange. Results/Conclusions: The interview findings revealed barriers to (and facilitators of) early assessment and treatment for Indigenous and non-Indigenous youth; some of which are unique to the rural and remote study context. Bringing together multiple stakeholders for the end-of-grant workshops strengthened the project and its results, and also created innovative arts-based knowledge translation products. The implications of these findings and next steps for the NorthBEAT Project will be discussed.
Topic Area: Service System Development and Reform
This information is available via the IEPA 2016 Conference program: www.iepaconference.org/program/