Based at the Douglas research center in Verdun, the ÉCLOS (BLOOM) research program aims to better understand the development of mental disorders in young people.
“What we really want to do is prevention,” explains Céline Villemus, project manager, before adding that the research group studies risk factors, but also protective factors. “We are going to look at whether people are resilient, whether we can help them develop this resilience and what can be done to anticipate mental illness,” she explains.
ÉCLOS is the abbreviation for: Study of Behavioral Development, Long-term Results and Opportunities to Optimize Youth Mental Health Trajectories.
Who can participate in the project?
The project began recruiting study participants last July: young people aged 9 to 25, as well as parents with one or more children in this age group and without a mental health diagnosis.
Ms. Villemus specifies that the objective is to “find people before they are sick, before they have symptoms that are too disabling, before there is a decline in their functioning.” And she adds that she wants to “observe them, see what happens with them in the long term. »
The project manager says she wants to meet the participants every year, for five years, ask them questions, see how things are going for them. With a similar or almost similar risk profile, she wants to know why one person will end up requiring mental health services, perhaps having a diagnosis and treatment, while the other will not have the same trajectory and will be fine. go.
What are the advantages of participating in this study?
“Participating in the project does not only mean giving information to researchers who will collect data, it also means having access to great opportunities to learn about mental health,” says Ms. Villemus.
The manager adds that there will be annual events “during which we will try to bring together young participants, their families and community organizations to exchange knowledge.”
She specifies that the project does not carry out clinical interventions “because we are not a group of stakeholders”. That said, the project offers plenty of fun and other activities that offer families and young people the opportunity to take care of themselves, and also to take care of their mental health.
The project team is made up of young people who listen, having had extensive training as navigators, the young project manager would like to point out.
Confidentiality guaranteed
Martin Sellier Silva, research assistant and youth navigator within the project, would like to point out that in cases where parents and young people from the same family participate in the project “none of the information given by the young people is shared with their parents and none of the parents’ information is disclosed to young people.
Youth navigators from the Éclos/Bloom program.
“One of the navigators is only a family navigator, while the other navigators accompany the young people,” concludes Ms. Villemus on this subject.
Knowledge sharing in the community
One of the great strengths of the team of researchers is that it not only does research, explains Ms. Villemus, but also provides knowledge to the community. “We not only want to take, but we also want to give back to the community, to young people and their families. »
The project also offers training workshops to raise community awareness of mental health, as well as training adapted to the needs expressed by organizations.
A workshop entitled “How to develop your resilience” is also offered to groups of young people and will also be offered to participants in the research project.
How to participate?
You can find out more by clicking ici. It is also possible to contact the project team at [email protected].
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