Resources
We are pleased to share the following resources thus far. As the network continues to co-develop resources, they will be added here.
ACCESS Open Minds Indigenous Youth Mental Health and Wellness Network | Guest Speaker Presentations
Network Gathering | May 22, 2026
Towards Culturally Relevant, Strengths-Based Mental Health Support for Indigenous Boys and Men
Guest speaker: Naomi Epp
Mental health research and programming for and by Indigenous boys and men in Canada remain limited in scope and reach. Following a recent environmental scan on mental health services for Indigenous youth, we conducted a scoping review demonstrating that existing programs have meaningful impacts on participants and communities by fostering cultural connection, relationships, and skill development through therapeutic, education, arts-based approaches and ceremony. Despite these contributions, important gaps persist, including limited programming for early adolescents and young adults, minimal youth co-design, and uneven geographic distribution. Programs also tend to prioritize violence reduction, reflecting a predominance of deficit-based approaches. This presentation will share findings from our scoping review and highlight the need for more culturally relevant, strengths-based mental health and wellness supports, services, and interventions for Indigenous boys and men.
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Network Gathering | March 20, 2026
Shifting the Narrative: From Suicide Prevention to Life Promotion
Guest Speaker: Connor Lafortune
The mental health landscape has evolved significantly, shifting from a reactive approach focused on suicide prevention to a proactive vision that promotes health and well-being. This session invites you to explore a new way of approaching mental health: one that celebrates life, values strengths, and supports well-being. Inspired by Indigenous knowledge, Life Promotion emphasizes balance, traditional teachings, and Mino-Bimaadiziwin, a long and good life. Participants will discover how these perspectives can enrich community well-being through the initiatives and work of Feather Carriers.
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Network Gathering | February 20, 2026
Walking Together: YWHO’s Partnership with Indigenous Communities to Support Youth Wellness
Guest Speakers: Karleigh Darnay, Erica Treleaven, Hazel Fox
This session will explore how Youth Wellness Hubs Ontario (YWHO) is working alongside communities to create culturally grounded, accessible mental health and wellness supports for First Nations, Inuit and Métis youth across the province. We will share implementation models tailored to diverse contexts, including First Nations communities, and highlight the Kenora Hub’s approach, led by the Kenora Chiefs Advisory. The session will also feature YWHO’s Provincial Indigenous Youth and Family Advisory Circle, whose priorities guide governance and accountability, ensuring Indigenous voices shape both provincial and local strategies and expectations.
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Network Gathering | January 23, 2026
Introduction to the Pan-Canadian Initiative Linking Genomic, Environmental and Mental Health Data in Children and Youth (Pan-GEM)
Study Presenters: Dr. Paul Arnold, Dr. Gina Dimitropolous, Anika Mamun
The Pan-Canadian initiative to link Genomic, Environmental and Mental Health Data in Children and Youth, or Pan-GEM, examines how genetic and environmental factors interact in relation to mental health concerns in children and youth. This project will bring together ongoing youth mental health studies from across Canada to generate a large, collaborative dataset that includes mental health, environmental and whole genome sequencing data. In addition to bringing together existing/ongoing youth mental health research studies, we also hope to develop a youth mental health cohort study, specifically for Pan-GEM, with a focus on engagement and inclusion of non-European ancestry Canadian populations that are often under-represented in genomics research, with purposeful intention of engaging Indigenous communities. Our goal is to work with community partners to co-develop culturally appropriate research protocols for the project that support engagement/inclusion to ensure that the research findings can benefit the broader population, including Indigenous peoples. We are also planning to hire youth interns from Indigenous communities to support the development of this work.
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Network Gathering | November 28, 2025
Guest speakers Dr. Gladys Rowe and Laura Horodecki present: Reimagining Impact: A Decolonial Approach to Evaluation at Huddle Integrated Youth Services (IYS) in Manitoba.
This presentation outlines a collaborative project between Huddle IYS and Indigenous Insights Collective to redesign Huddle’s measurement and reporting systems through decolonial, youth-led practices. The initiative emphasizes relationship-building, inclusive storytelling, and culturally grounded evaluation methods to better reflect the lived experiences and holistic impact of Huddle’s work—laying a strong foundation for future expansion, particularly in Indigenous communities in Northern Manitoba.
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Network Gathering | October 24, 2025
Guest speaker Lindsey Boechler presents: Using Virtual Reality to Support Indigenous Youth Mental Health and Wellness in Rural and Remote Saskatchewan
This presentation will share an innovative community-based research project exploring how virtual reality (VR) technology can enhance mental health and wellness supports for Indigenous youth in rural and remote Saskatchewan. Guided by Indigenous community partners, the VICCIY (Virtual Interventions and Community Connections for Indigenous Youth) initiative connects youth across communities in a shared virtual space for cultural engagement, wellness activities, and peer connection. The session will highlight the project’s goals, co-design process, and upcoming trial launching this year, as well as how the research aims to address access barriers and create culturally responsive, youth-driven resources.
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Network Gathering | September 26, 2026
Guest speakers Elder Casey Eagle Speaker, Gina Dimitropoulos, and David Lindenbach present: Braiding the Braids: Using Two-Eyed Seeing with Indigenous and Western practices to develop best and wise practices for mental health and wellbeing.
In this presentation, we will discuss work at Hull Services (a non-profit youth mental health provider in Calgary) to identify parallel processes between Indigenous healing practices and Western therapy. We will explain how and why the Braiding the Sweetgrass program was created in 2014 to support Indigenous youth and families dealing with intergenerational trauma. We will explain how Braiding the Sweetgrass uses Two-eyed Seeing to identify points of alignment between Indigenous cultural practices and the Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics (the overarching model of care at Hull Services): for example, they both utilize physical activity and human relationships to promote holistic and individualized approaches to wellness. Next, we will discuss recent work with Braiding the Sweetgrass to adapt the Unified Protocol, which is a transdiagnostic form of cognitive behavioural therapy. A number of parallel processes have been identified, such as the fact that the behavioural experiments suggested by the Unified Protocol strongly overlap with the Circle of Courage activities proposed by Martin Brokenleg. We will share our learnings and invite reflections and questions about Braiding the Sweetgrass and the trauma-informed, culturally-sensitive and responsive approach to the Unified Protocol.
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Network Gathering | June 27, 2025
Guest speakers Amanda Froehlich Chow and Amanda Gannon present ATOHTITAM: Becoming of age.
We will be sharing the story of ATOHTITAM~ Becoming of Age, a co-created initiative which aims to develop culture-and land-based wholistic wellness bundles for Saskatchewan youth, their families, and communities. ATOHTITAM promotes healthy relationships, identity healing, gender diversity, sexual health, and overall wellness through First Nations and Métis perspectives. Our goal is to create opportunities for sharing and learning that inspire Indigenous youth in Saskatchewan and beyond to be grounded in cultural wisdom around healthy communication and relationships. This foundation will support youth in engaging in behaviors that promote their sexual health and overall wellness. To guide the co-creation of our resources, we have gathered stories and been gifted with teachings from youth, teachers, parents and caregivers, individuals with lived experience, Knowledge Holders, and Elders, which have guided the co-creation of the ATOHTITAM bundles. We are preparing to share the ATOHTITAM wellness bundles (and explore their influence and resonance) in communities across Saskatchewan and into Alberta.
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Network Gathering | May 23, 2025
Guest speakers Nancy Young, Shonagh McCrindle, and Carolyn Melro present Aaniish Naa Gegii: The Children’s Health and Well-being Measure.
This presentation will introduce an outcome measure that is tailored to the needs of Indigenous youth and discusses how it relates to integrated youth services (IYS) sites across Canada.
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Publications
Integrating Indigenous Ways of Knowing Into Learning Health Systems: Moving From Learning Health Systems to Learning Communities
Melro CM, MacDonald K, Cowan T, Restoule B, Elder Tecumseh Connors E, Marandola G, Mushquash CJ, Iyer SN
Engaging Indigenous partners in health service transformation: a framework for sustained engagement built on trust
An environmental scan of mental health services for Indigenous youth in Canada
Perez SH, Kakish I, Brass G, MacDonald K, Mushquash C, Iyer SN (2024)
A descriptive overview of healthy relationship programs for Indigenous youth in Canada: an integrated environmental scan
Melro CM, Kakish I, D’souza N, Brass G, Ballantyne C, Boksa P, Mushquash CJ, Iyer SN. (2024)
Demographic and Clinical Presentations of Youth using Enhanced Mental Health Services in Six Indigenous Communities from the ACCESS Open Minds Network
Boksa P, Hutt-MacLeod D, Clair L, Brass G, Bighead S, MacKinnon A, Etter M, Gould H, Sock E, Matoush J, Rabbitskin N. (2022)
The ACCESS Open Minds Indigenous Council’s first paper on how their communities implemented strategies to transform youth mental health services.
Download the Research Digest/Infographic
Eskasoni First Nation’s transformation of youth mental healthcare: Partnership between a Mi’kmaq community and the ACCESS Open Minds research project in implementing innovative practice and service evaluation
Hutt‐MacLeod D, Rudderham H, Sylliboy A, Sylliboy‐Denny M, Liebenberg L, Denny JF, Gould MR, Gould N, Nossal M, Iyer SN, Malla A. (2019)
Improving youth mental wellness services in an Indigenous context in Ulukhaktok, Northwest Territories: ACCESS Open Minds Project
Etter M, Goose A, Nossal M, Chisholm‐Nelson J, Heck C, Joober R, Boksa P, Lal S, Shah JL, Andersson N, Iyer SN. (2019)
Invited Commentary: Community adaptations to ACCESS Open Minds – Lessons from Eskasoni and Ulukaktok
By Christopher Mushquash (2019)
Invited Commentary: ACCESS Open Minds National Indigenous Council
Brass, G., Gordon, M., Bernard B. (2019)
Reports
IYS-LHS Summit Workshop Shareback Report (Oct 2024)
A shareback report that summarizes the perspectives and ideas that came out of the Coming Together: Nurturing Indigenous Youth Mental Health and Wellness Workshop at the IYS-LHS Summit, Winnipeg, MB (Oct 9, 2024).
Download the shareback report here
Indigenous IYS Network Meeting Shareback Report (Apr 2023)
A shareback report that summarizes the perspectives and ideas that came out of the Indigenous Integrated Youth Services (IYS) Network gathering at the end of April 2023.
Download shareback report here
Learnings from the ACCESS Open Minds project in Ulukhaktok
An implementation guide for integrated youth services as a complement to existing services from the ACCESS Open Minds project in Ulukhaktok (Inuvik Region of the Northwest Territories).
Continuing and Growing a Network of Indigenous Youth Mental Health and Wellness Services
Read about what ACCESS Open Minds Indigenous Youth Mental Health and Wellness Services look like and why it’s so important to sustain them.
Transforming Youth Mental Health in Eskasoni First Nation
Poster Presentations
Exploring Mental Health Services and Supports for Indigenous Boys and Men: A Scoping Review
Poster presentation at the Canadian Association for Health Services and Policy Research (2025)
IAYMH 2025 – Fostering inclusion and meaningful engagement: A scoping review on training and supporting Indigenous youth in co-developing research
Poster presentation at the International Association for Youth Mental Health (2025)
Presentations
Presentation: A proven way to transform youth mental health in Indigenous communities
A presentation showcasing how ACCESS Open Minds has transformed youth mental health in Indigenous communities.