Welcome to the Youth Insight Platform: An innovation in data,
driven by youth!
The Canadian Youth Mental Health Insight Platform (Youth Insight Platform) is a demonstration project to develop a state-of-the-art data platform for youth mental health, designed to be accessible across Canada.
The project is powered by RBC Future Launch, Power Corporation of Canada, and the Canada Brain Research Fund (CBRF), an innovative arrangement between the Government of Canada, through Health Canada, and Brain Canada.
The Youth Insight Platform is hosted by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), Canada’s largest mental health teaching and research hospital.
What will the Youth Insight Platform demonstrate?
The Youth Insight Platform aims to:
Support young people in identifying mental health challenges earlier.
Explore what services and treatments have been helpful to other youth across Canada.
Empower youth to advocate for the needs of their communities.
Equip service providers and policy makers with the knowledge and tools to identify gaps and better support youth mental health.
Who will the Platform benefit?
-
Youth will have access to information about mental health, substance, use, and other programs and services that support their wellness, and mechanisms to match them to the most suitable options.
-
Researchers will have access to information about youth mental health data sources that may be of interest to their work. They will also have access to educational resources that can improve their practices of data collection, use, and interpretation.
-
Service providers will have the opportunity to explore new tools that can identify service gaps, consider potential areas for collaboration, and enhance decision-making, service delivery, and patient outcomes.
-
Policy Leads will have access to tools that provide insights into service distribution and utilization patterns, to help shape strategic resource allocation and data-driven policy creation.
-
Family/Caregivers will have the ability to learn about mental health services and interventions that are relevant to their loved ones.
What Makes the Youth Insight Platform Unique?
This project is co-created by youth for youth!
The concept for the Youth Insight Platform was co-created by young people and families from different parts of Canada who have lived experience of mental health challenges, to ensure the data platform best reflects the needs and experiences of youth!
In its development, the Youth Insight platform centers youth, as well as principles of justice, equity, diversity and inclusion.
An innovation through collaboration
Youth Insight Platform Intro Video
Watch this short promotional video by the Youth Insight Platform Youth Leads Team!
Core Values
Our core values guide how we work together to develop and grow this innovation.
Key Platform Functions in Development
Personalized Services Recommender (PSR)
This feature will recommend accessible mental health services to youth based on their specific needs and preferences.
Youth Mental Health Atlas
This feature will provide a map of mental health services available to youth in their communities, including information about services and features that are important to youth.
Precision Predictive Modelling (PPM)
This feature will help predict youth mental health outcomes, to support service providers in providing the best possible care to youth.
Our Project Team
In Fall 2023 the Youth Insight Platform’s Project Governance Structure launched, bringing together diverse teams and perspectives from different provinces in Canada to facilitate collaborative decision-making.
The project governance structure includes partners from various organizations across Canada. Members of the project governance structure include youth leaders with lived/living experience, family/caregivers, scientists/academics, Indigenous engagement leadership, data holders, data engineers, ethicists, education specialists, and clinicians.
Together, they are working toward the common goals of:
developing a youth and equity-centered data governance framework
achieving local and global data standards that provide common rules for how data is managed and used
co-designing use cases that will benefit individuals who access and work in the youth mental health sector
Our Partners
We would like to extend our heartfelt gratitude to the incredible partners of the Youth Insight Platform. Their collaboration, dedication, generous support, and openness in data sharing have been invaluable in advancing our collective mission. Together, we are making a significant impact on the mental health and well-being of children and youth, and we deeply appreciate their ongoing commitment to this vital cause.