OPHA, Health Canada and provincial partners are working to increase youth engagement opportunities across the province, in order to minimize participation in risky behaviours, such as illicit drug use.

Youth Engagement Project

Funded by Health Canada, OPHA welcomed a new project on Youth Engagement in February 2009. The need for this project has been determined and substantiated through a combination of extensive research and information gathered from the public health field. The project will run from February 2009 – June 2011.

The goal of this project is to increase the application of knowledge and skills among public health professionals working with grades 6, 7 and 8 students to increase youth engagement in activities that enhance protective factors and resilience against illicit drug use and risk taking behaviours among this age group.

The objectives of the project are:

  1. To assess the needs of public health staff working on school health teams within 36 health units and provide them with needed resources, coaching, tools and support in this important area.
  2. To increase youth engagement and increase protective factors to reduce drug use among approximately 500 students in Grade 6, 7 & 8 using the health promoting schools framework.
  3. To work closely with local health units to increase the factors that foster resilience and protective factors against illicit drug use and risk taking behaviours within 6 pilot test sites, followed by a provincial roll-out in 2011.

The project is advised by a Partner Group consisting of representatives from the Injury Prevention Public Health Managers Alliance; Ontario Healthy Schools Coalition; Ontario Physical Health and Education Association; and other key partners.

Recent Achievements

  • The youth engagement partners have actively met and planned next steps and specific actions related to program planning and implementation.
  • OPHA, with the assistance of its partners and a hired evaluator, created and disseminated a Needs Assessment Survey. The survey was sent to Managers of Injury Prevention, Substance Misuse, and Healthy School Teams from all public health units across Ontario. Click here to read the Highlights from a Public Health Unit Needs Assessment [PDF].
  • A Research Report focussing on compiling existing research and projects within the public health field related to Youth Engagement is now completed. The results of this process will inform the development of training tools and resources to be utilized within public health units. For a printed copy, please see contact info in the red Links box to the right.

Affiliated Organizations

The Youth Engagement Project is working closely with the following organizations:

 

 

The Youth Engagement Project gratefully acknowledges the funding of Health Canada, Ontario's Drug Strategy Community Initiatives Fund. Production of any resources has been made possible through a financial contribution from Health Canada. The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent the views of Health Canada.