News

Compass Team members were so pleased to speak and learn with BC School Counsellors during a recent three-part webinar series. The recordings from the Anxiety in Schools & Self-Injury, Depression & Suicide webinars are now available. The webinar slides are also available to view and print for future reference: Anxiety Slides and Self-Injury, Depression & Suicide slides. Thank you so much to all the school counsellors who joined us.

The recordings from the November-December Compass Connections Webinar Series on Somatization are now available for viewing:

1. Somatization in Pediatric Populations: Recording and Powerpoint Slides
2. Somatization: Communication Strategies: Recording and Powerpoint Slides
3. Somatization: Treatment Strategies: Recording and Powerpoint Slides

The scripts from the role play scenario is also available. The scripts highlight key clinical strategies to help reduce mistrust and confusion, deliver information about somatization, and introduce two key concepts in treatment - exploring emotions and optimizing functioning.

Thank you to everyone that joined us for this fantastic webinar series!

Welcome to the new Compass website! The new site aims to help providers across BC to better understand the Compass program, access a variety of resources on child and youth mental health and substance use that will be helpful in their practice, and to let you know about upcoming learning opportunities on child and youth mental health. We hope you enjoy exploring our new site!

Compass has been receiving many calls from providers supporting children and youth who are experiencing challenges with school attendance. If this is something you are encountering in your practice, feel free to call the Compass line for support and check out the following resources for tips and strategies:

1. Introduction to school avoidance

2. Managing School Avoidance in the Elementary Years

3. Building A Successful School Year in the High School Years

The Research for Eco-Social and Equitable Transformation (RESET) Lab at Simon Fraser University is working on a research initiative called ‘Bridging Climate Change and Healthcare: Opportunities for Intergenerational Justice and Supporting Youth and Children's Mental Health’, which seeks to support youth and children’s mental health care during the climate crisis. They hope to learn about how health care providers and other health care professionals see:

-Youth/children’s mental health being affected by climate change,

-What healthcare related to climate change looks like in rural and remote communities,

-How children and youth are currently being supported,

-Which places in the healthcare system could better support these youth/children,

-What the role of other family/peers/networks is in the healthcare journey for youth experiencing climate events,

-Where climate change stays and disappears in the medical journey,

-How youth/children’s mental health could be incorporated into a community's existing community programming,

-How healthcare policies and settings could incorporate youth/children voices. 

Their work is grounded in community participation and seeks to collaborate with and hear from health care professionals who are currently working with youth and/or children in rural/remote communities in BC. As such, we are looking for health care professionals to share their unique experiences and perceptions about how climate change is impacting youth and children as participants in our interviews. The interviews will be approximately 60-90 minutes and held virtually over Zoom. 

 If you know anyone or organizations who may be interested in participating in the study, please reach out to Adrienne at adrienne_barcket@sfu.ca by March 31, 2023.