Team collaboration and a major new grant strengthen Foundry’s evidence-informed services for young people

Associate Professor Dr. Skye Barbic and a large team of researchers have received a 4-year, $1.73M CIHR Project Grant for a study of integrated youth services (IYS), which include services to support young people’s health, employment, and housing. The goal of this grant is to further build on the collection and implementation of data at Foundry, a network of centres that provide youth services in BC; to do this, the team will engage with young people to learn about their experiences of accessing services, ask them what is most important to them so that relevant outcomes are measured, and determine how best to implement the data that Foundry tracks as it continually refines its services.

One notable aspect of this grant is the interdisciplinary aspect of its team. In addition to Dr. Barbic, the project includes Co-Principal Investigators Dr. Karen Tee, the Co-Executive Director at Foundry, whose background is in clinical psychology and youth mental health; Dr. Jason Sutherland, a Professor in the UBC School of Population and Public Health (SPPH) with expertise in measuring health systems; and Dr. Kirsten Marchand, an Assistant Professor in SPPH, who recently completed her postdoctoral training in mental health and substance use services for youth under Dr. Barbic’s supervision at Foundry.

Read on to learn more about the respective roles of the leaders of this team and the aims of this collaborative project.

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Can you outline your respective roles on this project? How does the team work together?

We are a multidisciplinary team at UBC, Foundry, and across the country who are working together to understand the impact of the integrated youth service model on youth outcomes and experiences. Our work is embedded at Providence Health Care, UBC Centre for Health Services and Policy Research (CHSPR), and the Faculty of Medicine at the UBC School for Population and Public Health (SPPH) and OSOT.

– Dr. Skye Barbic, project PI, UBC OSOT, Foundry Head Scientist

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How did the idea of this collaboration start, and how did you find each other as potential collaborators?

Since its inception, research has been a foundational element of the Foundry Integrated Youth Services (IYS) initiative in British Columbia. From the beginning, researchers and Foundry leaders worked together to understand what was needed to design an effective IYS model for BC. This was followed by a collaborative effort to evaluate the proof of concept and assess whether the model could deliver on its promise. Now, nearly a decade later, the focus has shifted to studying the long-term impact of Foundry on youth and families across the province. This long-standing partnership is rooted in mutual trust and shared goals—it is driven by the real-world needs of the organization and harnesses the expertise of Canadian researchers to answer critical questions that inform service improvement and enhance outcomes for young people and their families/caregivers.

– Dr. Karen Tee, Co-Executive Director of Foundry

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What have you found most interesting about using a team-based approach?

Each member of our project team brings a diverse and critical set of skills, including methodological (quantitative, qualitative, multi-methods) or content expertise (youth health, mental health and substance use, health systems, health policy). Given the complexity of the project’s multi-methods design, our team’s diverse perspectives has been instrumental to conceptualizing and designing the study. 

– Dr. Kirsten Marchand, Project PI, CHSPR, SPPH

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How will your trainees contribute to this project and how will it progress their academic careers?

This research project will apply a multi-methods approach, including both qualitative and quantitative studies focused on youths’ access to mental health and substance use services in BC. Our project team is committed to equity, diversity, and inclusion, and this has been considered in our team’s governance and operations and in our research design. Additionally, the project is based on an integrated knowledge translation and patient-oriented research strategy, actively and meaningfully engaging key knowledge users who are dedicated to the quality and impact of this research. The project’s trainees will have a unique and exceptional opportunity for mentorship and to practice their research skills in an environment that is committed to transforming the mental health care system in ways that are more equitable, person- and family-centred, and evidence-based. 

– Dr. Kirsten Marchand & Dr. Jason Sutherland Project PIs, CHSPR, SPPH

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How do you see this project building on your existing work and having a positive impact on integrated youth services?

For the past decade, Integrated Youth Services have been at the forefront of innovation in British Columbia’s youth mental health system. Thus far, our team’s research has predominantly contributed to the development and implementation of this initiative. Building on this research, our team is now shifting to answer key questions about how Integrated Youth Services have impacted youths’ experiences and patterns of mental health care access. This research is urgently needed to inform provincial and federal strategies on the further development, implementation, and monitoring of Integrated Youth Services as they continue to rapidly spread across British Columbia and Canada.

– Dr. Skye Barbic and Dr. Karen Tee

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