Frayme's Knowledge Mobilization Fellowship

Overview

The purpose of this fellowship program is to provide an intensive six (6) month training opportunity, leading to skill development for eight (8) members of Groundbreakers and knowledge products produced and disseminated within the YMHSU system.

This means that through this program, Fellows have the opportunity to:

  1. Gain and enhance skills related to professional knowledge mobilization
  2. Meet new people and connect with organizations
  3. Publish a knowledge product through Frayme channels

The skills gained through this experience will ultimately contribute to the Fellow’s competitiveness in the employment and academic sphere. In addition to the skills gained, connections made, and knowledge produced, each participant will receive a certificate of completion and a letter of reference at the end of the program.

 

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About Fellowship 2021: Cohort #1

Knowledge Mobilization (KMb) is all about turning knowledge into action. In the mental health space, knowledge is generated through a variety of sources and may come from research, new or innovative practices, or most importantly, from people with lived and living expertise. At Frayme, we aim to capture and share knowledge across the youth mental health and substance use system. Our goal is to influence policies and programs and ultimately help shape practice and improve mental health and substance use services for youth. Thus, we aim to have a system-level impact through knowledge use. 

Unfortunately, simply creating knowledge does not ensure use. This is because organizations that produce and use knowledge are often siloed, and information is not always shared in ways that are accessible and inclusive. In addition, youth mental health can undergo rapid changes and the evidence base must change and grow as well. Therefore, it’s important for organizations to have access to timely, accessible, inclusive and relevant knowledge. Including those with lived and living experience in the creation of knowledge products is one way to help ensure this relevance.

Who: Frayme’s KMb Fellowship originated from the need for knowledge products to be relevant and actionable. By having our Groundbreakers co-create knowledge products, we were able to walk alongside youth and caregivers but let them lead the way in product creation. The fellowship provided training and skill development to 10 Groundbreaker KMb Fellows.

What: These Fellows worked in pairs to co-create meaningful knowledge products, and they collaborated with Frayme to showcase and disseminate their products within the youth mental health and substance use (YMHSU) system.

Why: From this program, we were able to create community, increase connections, build capacity and create new opportunities among our Fellows.

Fellowship Process

The fellowship ran for 4 months, from November 2021 to March 2022. During this time, Fellows participated in 5 training sessions focused on the fundamental skills and theories of knowledge mobilization. During the training, Fellows were presented with a menu of evidence projects and needs generated by Frayme, and were able to vote on which projects they wanted to work on. Based on their interest, Fellows worked together in pairs to co-develop a knowledge product. During this time, they had bi-weekly allyship check-ins with a Frayme ally, independent peer-review sessions led by fellows, and completed bi-weekly evaluations. At the end of the fellowship, Fellows presented their products and shared their experience of the program at Frayme’s 2022 Learning Institute to an international audience of over 500 attendees. They also received a certificate in knowledge mobilization from Frayme for completing the training and fellowship program. Below, we showcase these products.

Cohort #1 Projects

Meet our first round of Fellows!

Throughout four months (Fall 2021 to Winter 2022), 10 Fellows participated in Frayme's intensive Knowledge Mobilization Fellowship to learn and co-create together. During this time, they developed several knowledge products to inform the youth mental health and substance use sector by harnessing the power of their lived expertise to fuel the design, development, and implementation of their work. 

These brilliant Fellows coined themselves the "K Stars" and presented their work at #Frayme2022 to showcase how their lived/living expertise was at the forefront of their learnings. In the video below, hear firsthand from youth and caregiver advocates across Canada about how to combine lived expertise, knowledge mobilization, and evidence meaningfully. Spanning topics from Virtual Care Solutions to Integrated Youth Services and Newcomer Youth, the shared content and learnings were just as diverse as our Fellows. ​

 

 
 

 

Explore their KMb products

Mikaela and Zee

Themes: youth anxiety and depression, virtual intervention

Micaela and Zee chose to create a Zine based on Frayme's Town Hall Report. Frayme partnered with Homewood Research Institute to identify valid and reliable measurement scales for anxiety and depression for digital interventions (e.g., apps) targeting youth between ages 13 and 25. As part of this work, we hosted one town hall and one focus group with 36 youth and caregivers with lived and living expertise (PWLE) to share their experiences. The Zine explores these findings using creative storytelling methods. Fun fact: Zee drew all these illustrations!

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Lauren and Hajar

Themes: newcomer youth, prevention, promotion

Lauren and Hajar chose to create a white paper exploring newcomer youth mental health, specifically focusing on prevention and promotion strategies. The Fellows led this work and were not based on previous Frayme projects. They also connected with a community partner who supported newcomer youth to better integrate lived expertise into their white paper.

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Ervis and Braeden

Themes: newcomer youth

Braeden and Ervis also explored newcomer youth mental, creating an evidence brief that explores how to best address the challenges of newcomer youth through mental health services and supports. This document provides key considerations in newcomer youth mental health and substance use, as well as strategies to improve current services and address care gaps.  

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Angela and Anne Marie

Themes: integrated youth services

Anne Marie and Angela created a toolkit for youth to bring integrated youth services (IYS) into their communities. This toolkit was based on a report from The Grove Hubs (formally the Integrated Youth Services Network of Guelph/Wellington), which partnered with Homewood Research Institute to evaluate their IYS model. Using the Grove Hubs as an example, the toolkit explores key considerations in successfully bringing IYS into one's community, including engagement, collaboration, and equity.

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Katelyn and Yvonne

Themes: youth and caregiver engagement, virtual care

Yvonne and Katelyn created products based on two Frayme projects. The ASK document was based on Frayme's engagement literature review and explored questions to ask from both a service provider and youth/caregiver lens when engaging in opportunities. They also created a Virtual Care checklist, which explores questions to reflect on following a virtual care session. 

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Lessons Learned

The biggest lesson learned was to walk alongside youth and caregivers, but let them lead the way- the journey will surprise and inspire you. We were constantly impressed by the creativity of our Fellows and were thrilled by the Fellows' evaluation of the program. One of the major success factors was capacity building, with Fellows reporting increased knowledge, a sense of accomplishment and skills gained. Another success factor was mentorship and connection. Fellows valued the opportunity to learn and grow from others, appreciated the authentic and genuine engagement from Frayme, reported a real sense of community in the fellowship, appreciating Frayme’s support, care and flexibility. Finally, Fellows reported increased opportunities, as they were able to attend free training, present to an international audience and disseminate knowledge products to the border YMHSU sector. Going forward, we will continue to focus on quality by increasing support, extending the length of the fellowship, and focusing on relationship building and mentorship.

Registration Closed

Questions about your application to the KMb Fellowship? Email our Engagement Team at Frayme.Engagement@theroyal.ca for specific inquiries.

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Registration Closed 

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