Funding outcome

Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) impacts four percent of Canadians. About 90% of people with FASD experience at least one co-occurring mental health issue, with anxiety and depression being most common. Mental health concerns among children and youth with FASD are linked with poor sleep, increased criminality, reduced quality of life, poor family functioning, and difficulty with peer relationships. Yet, there are no treatments that have been developed to address the unique mental health needs of youth with FASD. Accessing mental health supports for youth with FASD is also extremely challenging. Many times, youth with FASD can't access supports because the people who provide help often don't know how to or feel that they don't have the skills or capacity to work with people with FASD. We need to make sure everyone, no matter what, can get the right support for their mental health. This means research is needed to inform effective mental health supports for youth with FASD. To start addressing this gap we plan to develop a community-based model for FASD-informed mental health service delivery. Alberta offers a great place to start as the province has created 12 regional FASD networks that cover the whole province. These FASD service networks give people with FASD a one-stop access to resources, programs and support. The networks also offer a unique chance to work together on a province-wide approach to address the mental health needs of youth with FASD. This approach will help us to build on services that are already in communities, while also identifying ways to help practitioners feel more skilled and confident in delivering mental health interventions that are helpful for youth with FASD. With the help of our community-based research partners (co-creation group), we plan to develop a model of care that can help practitioners modify high-quality and effective interventions for this group and lay the groundwork to pilot the model in the future.