Peter Boris Centre for Addictions Research
The Young Adult Substance Use Program (YA-SUP) in Hamilton, Ontario is a 3-year pilot program focused on creating and evaluating an evidence-based tailored outpatient substance use program for young adults (17-25 years of age). YA-SUP was created by combining research, clinical recommendations and practice, and the voices of young people. Patients complete surveys 5 times throughout the program and this data is concurrently used to provide feedback to clinicians (to focus assessment), patients (to support collaborative decision making), and leadership (to guide internal program evaluation). We recently received a grant from Frayme to focus on how our patients define quality of life, how their quality of life has changed, and whether or not our current measure of quality of life is capturing these key components. Frayme’s Learning Institute coincides with the 1-year anniversary of our launch and midway through our Frayme grant.
Presenters
Jillian Halladay
I am currently a PhD candidate in Health Research Methodology at McMaster University, focusing on examining the co-occurrence of substance use and mental health concerns among youth. I am also a Registered Nurse with experience in youth inpatient psychiatry and a Research Associate at the Peter Boris Centre for Addictions Research leading program development and evaluation for the YA-SUP. My clinical and research roles are all grounded in identifying, contributing to, and utilizing the best available evidence to improve and optimize the lives of youth.
Madeleine Luvisa
Madeleine (they/them) has over 4 years of experience supporting efforts to create positive change in Hamilton’s child and youth mental health system(s), with a particular focus on the importance of engaging service users in program development, delivery, and evaluation. Madeleine completed a Bachelor’s in Social Work and has provided lived expertise consultations for the YA-SUP through the development and initial implementation of the program. Madeleine co-wrote the Frayme grant and has since been formally hired on as a Research Assistant for the Frayme-funded YA-SUP Quality of Life study.
Mackenzie Mawson
Mackenzie (she/her) is a Registered Nurse and has provided lived expertise consultations for the YA-SUP through the development and initial implementation of the program. Mackenzie co-wrote the Frayme grant and has since been formally hired on as a Research Assistant for the Frayme-funded YA-SUP Quality of Life study. She openly identifies as a transgender woman and uses her lived experiences as motivation to advocate for safe(r) mental health care delivery.
Key takeaways
- Pilot program offering hard reduction services to youth aged 17-25 in Hamilton that struggle with substance use
- The goal is not to get youth to stop using substances, it’s to show them that they can have enjoyable life doing activities not surrounding substances
- Program structure includes:
- Individual Sessions that uses motivational enhancement therapy and measurement based care
- Group therapy that uses CBT, DBT
- Patients fill out a survey 5x over the course of the program used for: 1) providing immediate tailored care to young person who filled out the survey, 2) ongoing clinical monitoring of program, 3) research evaluation of the program
- Youth accessing this program are on average aged 21, and 50% identify as women, 42% as men, and 8% as gender diverse
- 50% of youth in the program live with family, and only 11% live in a group homes/ are homeless. Others are either independent or live with other people
Key Learning Objectives (defined by presenters)
- To understand the process and rationale for current program ingredients (including survey assessments) for the young adult outpatient substance use program in Hamilton, Ontario and other components we hope to implement in the future
- To describe characteristics and the substance use and mental health profiles of young adults accessing this outpatient substance use program in the first year
- To examine preliminary program outcomes, including preliminary insights about patient quality of life
Key Themes
- Multiple and alternative treatment
- Patient and clinician partnered care