Supporting impactful community research
Our grants and research awards are designed to seed-fund research projects led by experienced academic researchers and community researchers/service providers collaborating to address gaps in community mental health and addressing community needs, while integrating the insights of people with lived experience into each stage of their project.
Haley Bonnell
Peer supporters bring lived experience into mental health and addiction services, but integration into multidisciplinary systems can also create new workplace pressures. Haley Bonnell’s research with Lifewise is examining how work context shapes peer supporters’ mental health, well-being and experience of their roles.
Chris Bowie
Young people experiencing early psychosis can face self-stigma alongside serious mental health challenges. Chris Bowie’s BOOST program combines cognitive behavioural therapy and peer support in an online group format, with follow-up assessments examining changes in stigma, mood, relationships and suicidal thoughts.
Shannon Scratch and Alex Elkader
Siblings of children with disabilities can have their own emotional and social needs overlooked. Shannon Scratch and Alex Elkader’s team adapts a peer-group program into iSibworkS, a six-week virtual intervention that helps siblings share experiences, practise coping skills and build self-esteem, while developing versions for younger children and teenagers.
Erin Fredericks and Nathan Thompson
What can young 2SLGBTQI+ people learn from community members who lived through the AIDS epidemic? Erin Fredericks and Nathan Thompson’s youth-led project brings generations together to build resilience, belonging and practical mental health resources through recorded interviews and workshops.