Youth and Mental Health

Agenda Gap Youth Program

A core principle of our Agenda Gap program is that mental health is shaped by everyday conditions, and these conditions are greatly influenced by policy. The Agenda Gap program equips youth to contribute to policy decision-making that reflect their needs and are supportive of their mental health and wellbeing. Play the videos below to learn more about our Agenda Gap program.

Mental health and mental illness are not same. Mental health is a resource that enables us to enjoy life, survive pain and recover from disappointment. Mental health promotion focuses on strengths and opportunities and how those are shaped by our social context – our family, friends, community, cultural and physical environment. We all have mental health needs and draw upon our mental health for everyday life. Watch Agenda Gap’s video on YouTube.

Agenda Gap Infographic Thumbnail

The Agenda Gap program trains young adult facilitators to engage youth in the delivery of a policy and mental health promotion curriculum that was designed in collaboration with youth. The curriculum increases knowledge and skills around mental health and policy change and supports youth in selecting a mental health-related policy that they would like to address. These policies may impact mental health at one or more levels (e.g., school, neighbourhood, community). Download the Infographic PDF.

Jenkins 2023 Mixed Methods Thumbnail

Assessing the impacts of the Agenda Gap intervention for youth mental health promotion through policy engagement: a study protocol. This publication describes the study protocol for the uniquely “upstream” focused Agenda Gap program.

View publication – Assessing the Impacts… [PDF] [Journal page].

Advancing socioecological mental health promotion intervention: A mixed methods exploration of Phase 1 Agenda Gap findings. This paper shows the usefulness of mental health promotion for generating positive mental health impacts across multiple socioecological domains.

View publication – Advancing sociological mental health promotion… [PDF] [Journal page].

Our Funders

Public Health Agency of Canada, Mental Health Promotion Innovation Fund (1920-HQ-000100): 2019-2026

Community Action Initiative: 2018-2026

Canadian Institutes of Health Research (PJT-153232) : 2016-2021