Impact
At Wellstream, our team leads research and contributes to evidence-informed decision-making within the health, education and social sectors. We do so in partnership with youth, communities, non-profit organizations and governments. This generates impactful insights and innovations that transform policies and practices and strengthen mental health and substance use outcomes for children, youth, and their communities.
Community Resources
Upstream
Working “Upstream” means addressing the root issues that contribute to health and illness for individuals, communities and populations.
Produced through a global collaboration between Wellstream and the International Union for Health Promotion and Education, this video contributes to an awareness and advocacy campaign addressing the need for investment into the upstream determinants of mental health.
#SeeTheLives
This project is a research and advocacy collaboration between our partners at the University of Calgary, the University of Alberta, and parent leads of national networks supporting families impacted by substance use.
Check out the #SeeTheLives award-winning video series, which screened at the Edge Film Festival, the International Harm Reduction Film Festival in Portugal, and won the Advertising Club of Edmonton’s Best in Show Award in 2019. You can also access a full suite of resources aimed at reducing substance use stigma and other harms.
Policy
Expert consultant to the Public Health Agency of Canada for the report, “Preventing substance-related harms among Canadian youth through system-level action: A policy paper”.
Prepared in collaboration with Agenda Gap youth in Alberta, this report summarizes best practices to realize the full benefits of youth engagement in policy processes.
Beyond Canada, Wellstream is contributing to efforts to strengthen global mental health. As a core member of the International Union for Health Promotion and Education, Global Working Group for Mental Health Promotion, in 2021, Dr. Jenkins led the development of a position statement on critical actions for mental health promotion. This statement has been translated into five languages and used to inform mental health policy discussions and advocacy in Canada and globally.
Practice
We developed the Concurrent Disorders Educational Intervention to enhance nursing care for people experiencing co-occurring mental health and substance use challenges. The intervention is available online.
Leading a partnership between the UBC School of Nursing and the BC Centre on Substance Use, our team contributed to the development of the Addiction Care and Treatment Online Certificate. This CACME-accredited program equips healthcare professionals to enhance care for people who use drugs.
Wellstream’s leadership team contributed an youth cannabis use educational module to YouthREX’s online certificate for youth workers, Cannabis and Youth: A Certificate for Youth Workers. This self-guided online professional development certificate provides youth workers with evidence-based information on the health, social, and legal considerations associated with cannabis use and the tools needed to support awareness and informed decision-making among youth.