Allegory-Based Literacy Empowerment (ABLE): Treatment Development Study of an Interactive Web and App-Based Platform to Bolster Coping and Mitigate Suicide Risk in Middle-schoolers
The project created an online mental health literacy curriculum based on Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, which students read in middle-school language classes. It teaches cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) skills that help young people explore different ways of thinking and behaving as they manage or seek to prevent anxiety, depression and other common mental health difficulties.
The project aimed to test the curriculum on a broader scale and make it accessible through an online platform.
Methodology
The research team created a website containing mental health learning materials and resources. Parents, students and teachers were directed to REDCap, an online research platform, to complete surveys about their use of the curriculum and its effects on mental well-being.
Findings
The project produced the MyOWL website, which provides lesson plans, downloadable assignments and videos for students, a teacher manual and mental health resources for teachers, students and families.
The curriculum helped young people build confidence and develop strategies to support their mental well-being.
It also reports increased mental health knowledge and awareness among students, teachers, parents and the wider community.
Impact
The grant supported a free school-based curriculum in mental health literacy and CBT skills for teachers and young people in Canada and internationally.
Following the MHRC-IAM funding, the project received a $757,350 operating grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), supporting its expansion to other provinces and countries.
The MyOWL website recorded visitors from more than 78 countries and territories, extending the project’s reach beyond the original Ontario setting.
Project outreach
Beginning in Ontario, the project expanded to Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba and Québec. Its website attracted visitors from more than 78 countries and territories, and the program was in use in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and India during the reporting period.
Resources created
MyOWL online curriculum and teaching resources: myowl.org
Research papers: several completed, with others then in preparation.
About the researcher
During the 2019–2020 project period, Dr. Mark Sinyor was an assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of Toronto and a psychiatrist at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre. His research focuses on suicide prevention, and he works with educators and researchers to develop and evaluate a literature-based curriculum that teaches mental health literacy and cognitive behavioural therapy skills to middle-school students.
