CEYMH Youth & Family Councils
In recent years, the involvement of service users and their families has become an essential component in the pursuit of excellence in both research and the improvement of mental health care. Science has demonstrated the value of the contribution of service users and their families.
The Centre of Excellence in Youth Mental Health (CEYMH) values and is committed to the meaningful inclusion of youth, particularly those with lived and living experience of mental health problems, and/or receiving mental health services in co-designing research, practices, and policies. The CEYMH also values the involvement of families/carers with lived and living experience of supporting loved ones with mental health problems. Depending on the preferences of youth and families, and the research project or initiative’s needs, there are various avenues for such inclusion: choosing research questions and tools, helping disseminate findings and so on.
Participation in Youth & Family Advisory Councils
The following document aims to provide a monetary compensation grid for young people and family members in return for their contribution as stakeholders in research projects of the CEYMH. It is based, among other things, on the principles and grids presented in the document from the SRAP Unit (Patient-Oriented Research Strategy) entitled Principes directeurs-dédommagement financier pour la recherche en partenariat avec les patients et le public, the advisory group for partnership with the public in Quebec, and guidelines provided by the Centre d’excellence en partenariat avec les patients et le public (CEPPP).
Consultation Meetings for Researchers
We have designed a form that allows eligible researchers to request a consultation meeting with Youth & Family Advisory Councils to obtain the opinion of service users or their caregivers. To benefit from their expertise, all you have to do is provide us with a few details by filling in the following form.
The CEYMH is committed to ensuring that the involvement of its council members is fully recognized. That’s why we have adopted a compensation policy based on best practices. Furthermore, to ensure optimal contribution to your projects, we have decided to limit the size of our councils so that each member can have their say. Although we are willing to accommodate our partners according to their needs, we cannot guarantee that we will accede to all requests. In addition, a member of your team must be present for each meeting, alongside our facilitator.
Each application will be evaluated to determine whether the researcher’s needs match those of our lived experience partners. For any questions, please reach out to Charles-Albert Morin at charles-albert.morin@douglas.mcgill.ca.
Meet our Coordinator
Our Councils are led by Charles-Albert Morin, Lived Experience Coordinator. You can reach him at: charles-albert.morin@douglas.mcgill.ca.
Charles-Albert lives with a mental health disorder and has been actively involved in the mental health community as a patient partner and peer helper for many years. He is also an activist in his spare time. His mandate is to give a voice to people who, like him in the past, will be called to improve mental health care based on their personal experience.
