Youth Net/Réseau Ado
Goals & History

Youth Net/Réseau Ado (YN/RA) is a bilingual regional mental health promotion
and intervention program run by youth, for youth.
There are sites all across Canada.

Our objective is to reach out and help youth develop and maintain good Mental Health as well as healthy coping strategies for dealing with stress, while decreasing stigma around Mental Illness and its treatment. We do this through education and intervention.

Educating who?: Service providers, families, the community, policy makers and youth, on youth mental health issues;
Early Identification and Intervention: Identifying youth in need of an intervention, preferably early, but also those already in crisis;
Mental Health Promotion: decreasing the stigma associated with mental health/illness in the public and with youth in particular.

Dr. Ian G. Manion (Psychologist) and Dr. Simon Davidson (Psychiatrist) were asked to conduct the 1993 Canadian Youth Mental Health and Illness Survey (sponsored by the Canadian Psychiatric Association).

The survey results indicated:

• Youth were at a high risk for mental health problems
• Youth were unhappy with current mental health services
• Youth first talk with people their age before talking to their parents or professionals

Previous research shows suicide is the second most common killer of Canadian youth.

In 1994, as a response to the survey, the format for YN/RA was developed through 20 pilot focus groups with 200 youth from a variety of backgrounds.

By May 2004, over 12,000 youth have participated in focus groups, discussing the mental health issues they are facing, their views about the mental health system, and how the system could better meet their needs.

Due to the positive response to the YN/RA program, other Youth Net Sites have been set up in other communities across Canada. YN/RA sites now exist in Ottawa, Halton, Peel, Grey Bruce and Hamilton ON, Delta BC, Montréal, Montérégie and Montmagny QC, and Newcastle England. In addition to these, there are several other sites in various stages of development.

For more information contact: 738-3915 or youthnet@cheo.on.ca

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