Poster Introductions I--The Provision of Child and Youth Mental Health Services in Ontario and British Columbia

In recent years there has been a renewed interest in health services research on the delivery of mental health services to children and youth as longitudinal studies demonstrate the continuation of many mental disorders from their onset in childhood through the life course. Health geographers have long been concerned with access to mental health services, community responses to mentally ill populations, and the location of mental health services. However, absent from the literature is study into the use of mental health services by youth, barriers to access, and delivery of mental health services for young people. This research will build on the limited work that has been done in Canada studying adolescent use of mental health services by analyzing data on perceptions of mental health and use of services for adolescents and youth between 12-19 years of age in the Province of Ontario using Cycle 3.1 of the 2005 Canadian Community Health Survey. Amanda Slaunwhite is a first year PhD student at the University of Victoria pursuing research in health geography, and completing a dissertation on the reinstitutionalization of persons with mental illness in British Columbia. She has a Master\u27s degree in Urban and Regional Planning and is originally from Halifax Nova Scotia. Amanda is currently contributing to research related to the provision of child and youth mental health services, mental health care restructuring, as well as food security in rural, remote and Aboriginal communities