The Mental Health System: Focus on meeting the health needs of youth

Presentation by Stan Kutcher on the mental health system, what needs to change, and focusing on meeting the health needs of youth.

About the conference

We hosted the first Canadian Consensus Conference on the Mental Health of Emerging Adults: Making Transitions a Priority in Canada in 2015 to create an open dialogue and generate a broad consensus on their unique mental health needs. Facilitated by our Knowledge Exchange Centre, the conference brought together 200 emerging adults, their families and caregivers, service providers, and policy makers from across the country stakeholders from across the country to develop a consensus statement with concrete recommendations to  advance policy and services for EAs in Canada. The conference Jury and EA panel identified a number of foundational characteristics of a reformed system – one that is better able to meet the mental health and problematic substance use needs of emerging adults.

About Dr. Stan Kutcher

Stan Kutcher, Sun Life Financial Chair in Adolescent Mental Health and Director World Health Organization Collaborating Center in Mental Health Policy and Training, is a renowned expert in adolescent mental health. He is a leader in mental health research, advocacy, training, policy, and services innovation at the IWK Health Centre and Dalhousie University. Recipient of numerous awards and honors for his work including: the Order of Nova Scotia, the Excellence in Education Award (CACAP), Canadian College of Neuropsychopharmacology Gold Medal, and the John Ruedy Award for Innovation in Medical Education. Currently focused on knowledge translation and improving mental health literacy and care in schools, he continues his innovative youth mental health development and research across Canada and globally.