A participatory research consortium on youth mental health – PROMOTE

Students are particularly affected by mental health problems, but a small number report accessing appropriate mental health resources and services. However, to date, there are limited available interventions that aim to improve access to mental health services among students. To fill this gap, the community-based organization Nightline implemented a network of student peers (called Sentinels) trained to identify and refer students with mental health problems to resources and services. Our participatory research proposal aims to bring together researchers, knowledge users and students to improve mental health interventions for post-secondary students (aged 18 to 30) in France.

The objectives of this research proposal will be:
1. Establish a new community-based and participatory research consortium to identify actions and strategies to improve mental health interventions for post-secondary students in France.
2. Draw on the consortium to design and deliver a capacity-building training program, the "Nightline Youth Researcher Program", aimed at building research skills and competencies for post-secondary students.
3. Assess the usability and acceptability of the Students' Sentinel Network.

To respond to these objectives, the proposed research consortium will invite researchers, knowledge users and students to attend regular meetings (in-person and remotely) throughout the 18-month project to support the implementation of the research activities in Objectives 2 and 3. In parallel, a group of student volunteers (n=10-12) will be recruited to be trained in research through workshops animated by researchers and experts from our proposed consortium (Objective 2). Trained students will have the opportunity to participate in the consortium, data collection and analysis (see Objective 3) and knowledge translation activities.
In the second part of the project, individual, semi-structured interviews will be conducted by the Nightline Youth Researchers with students who have received support from Sentinel peers (n=12-15) and other students who did not receive it (n=12-15), to assess the usability and acceptability of the Sentinel network (Objective 3). Interviews will be also conducted with Sentinel peers and support staff (n=12-15), as well as with managers of mental health services/programs used by the referred-peer students.

By mobilizing the research capabilities and preliminary actions from this proposal, we will co-develop a community-based randomized controlled trial protocol to evaluate the effectiveness of the Students' Sentinel Network on access to mental health services among students. The findings generated during this project will help inform decision-makers and stakeholders involved in student mental health policies and programs to improve access to mental health services that best address mental health challenges of post-secondary students.