Youth & loved ones councils

CEYMH Youth & Loved Ones 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 challenges, 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 challeneges whether familial or not. 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.

About the Councils

To learn about how the councils operate, click here.

Adolescent Council (~12-17 yrs)

Youth Council (~18-30 yrs)

Loved Ones Council

The Advisory Councils' Work

The Youth and Family Councils have had the opportunity to collaborate and be involved in various projects and initiatives.

CEYMH’s BLOOM Research Program Engagement

The Councils were involved in creating leaflets and posters for recruitment, tested questionnaires and platforms for the study, and provided feedback on workshops offered to participants.
One youth partner met with the research team regularly to work on demographic-sensitive questions, an executive summary of the program, and they were present for all interviews to hire new research assistants for the program.

First Line Access

The Councils met with the project team on several occasions to provide their opinions on improving access to first-line services in Québec.

Quebec Program for Mental Disorders

The Councils contributed their opinions on a stepped care model of services dedicated to answering the mental health needs of people in Québec in a timely manner.

Collaboration with  

The Councils have had a continued collaboration with Aire Ouverte ODIM and meet regularly with staff such as nurses, sexologists, occupational therapists to consults on their practices and youth services, promotional material and social media 

Refreshing Canada's Strategy for Patient-Oriented Research (SPOR)

The Councils generated opinions on the SPOR Refresh themes and contributed ideas on emerging trends and needs, strengthening EDIA in patient engagement, and building capacity for patient-oriented research. Find out more here:
SRAP-Jeunes/SPOR-Youth
SRAP-Membres-de-l'entourage/SPOR-Loved-Ones

Youth Mental health research

Council members collaborated on a CIHR-funded research project led by Douglas clinician-researcher Dr. Orri focusing on co-occurring physical and mental health disorders. The Loved Ones and Youth Advisory councils will continue to be engaged throughout this project. A summary of the project can be found here.
Council members collaborated with Douglas clinician-researcher Dr. Marie-Claude Geoffroy on a CIHR-funded project that examines how adolescent depressive symptoms affect young adult outcomes, whether supportive late-teen relationships buffer these effects, and how patterns differ by sex and gender roles. A summary of the project can be found here.
Council members collaborated with Dr. Marie-Claude Geoffroy on a FRQSC funded project co-create a youth mental health podcast made for youth by youth. Pictures of the session can be found here.
Council members collaborated and continue to be involved in a project with Douglas clinician-researcher Dr. David Benrimoh. The project aims to find out which kinds of digital measures – hosted on phones and smartwatches – are most helpful for patients, clinicians, and families in understanding, tracking, and managing mental health conditions across multiple diagnoses.
Council members collaborated on Wellcome funded research project led by McGill assistant professor and researcher Dr. Jura Augustinavicius. The project looks at Climate Change and Health Mental Health and will look uncover mechanisms to linking heat exposure to anxiety and depression & psychosis. 
Council members have met with David P. Laplante & Dr Ashley Wazana for to give consultation on the project with the goal of the assessing how perinatal maternal adversity and youth genetics, either alone or in combination, couple with early childhood experiences predict mental health functioning in adulthood.   
Council members collaborated with doctoral student in Nursing at McGill University, Michèle Desmarais, o reflect the results of her doctoral research looking at perspectives and experiences of children and adolescents regarding mental health care and suicide prevention to ensure that they are respectful toward young with mental health problems.

Evaluation of Counsils

In fall 2024, to better understand the perspectives of our advisory members, their experience thus far and the trajectory of the councils, the idea to evaluate the councils blossomed. Inspired by existing literature, an evaluation guide was created to structure a focus group discussion to elicit feedback and encourage reflection on their experience thus far. Looking forward we look to
Diversify our councils by recruiting in diverse communities and institutions moving to a youth and caregiver network model to include more diverse voices
Strengthen partnerships with organizations, clinical teams, and research groups that value the input of lived experience.
Ensure meeting topics coincide with council members' interests
Support youth-led initiatives, such as podcasts or other creative activities that involve them with the CEYMH and amplify their voices.

To read more about the evaluation and council’s members feedback click here.

What Members are Saying

The facilitators, I feel like, do a great job in these meetings to let us know that our lived experiences are valued.

It's hopeful like to know that people with lived experience are being involved in the project because I feel like it's just a new way of approaching things. And it's a really great way to like continue trying to help people and their mental health

I think we've all learned more, and also, the fun thing is that since we had several different studies come to us to get our opinion, we definitely may have been able to help a lot of people.

I appreciate it, and that's why I participate, because for me, coming here isn't difficult, it's easy.” …we know that our opinion matters...you know, it's by participating in things like this that we're going to slowly change things.

Here are some general guidelines on partnering and engaging with young people

Participation in Youth & Loved Ones 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).

Politique de compensation-compensation policy

Become a member of our Councils

We are actively recruiting for our councils!

If you are interested in joining the councils, please fill out our questionnaire so we can get to know you better and arrange a meeting.

We look forward to hearing from you!

Interested in Working with Our Councils?

Request a Consultation Meeting

We have designed a form that allows researchers, organizations, and clinical partners 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 collaborators’ needs match those of our lived experience partners. For any questions, please reach to info@ceymh-cesmj.ca.

Meet our Facilitators

Chelsea Cuffaro (she/her)

Chelsea is a passionate mental health advocate who strives to amplify the voices of those who are often misunderstood or struggle in silence. Her ability to deeply connect with others and meet them where they are at in their journey stems from her own lived experience with a mental health disorder. To that end, she hopes to work as a clinician-researcher who aims to address the systemic barriers to accessing care and the unmet needs of youth. You can contact her at: chelsea.cuffaro.comtl@ssss.gouv.qc.ca.

Tosh Watson (he/him)

Tosh values inclusion and community engagement. He is passionate about helping others bring the best of out themselves, all the while learning from their insight. He is a firm believer of stopping the stigma around mental health and having open discussions about it. He strives to advocate for youth and family members and is eager to contribute to the Youth and Family Advisory Councils, ensuring that their voices significantly influence mental health research, while fostering community. You can contact him at: tosh.watson.comtl@ssss.gouv.qc.ca