Project description

Social challenge:

Quebec is openly trying to address their mental health crisis. In the last few years, the need for resources has been growing, as did the waitlists and the lack of professionals in the public system. Mental health is an important issue for which solution are less known; older and younger people do not have the knowledge to address it. As mental health issues were taboo for a long time, most older adults didn’t know how to properly deal with them and weren’t able to give that information to their children. Generation after generation, skills are getting better but still are lacking. 

Solution idea:

With an unstable economy and an uncertain future, stress and anxiety are normal part of our daily life.  It is necessary for young people to be given the tools to be able to deal with their emotional needs, no matter which background they are from. Our social solution idea is to create a non-profit organization that will go see adolescents, from 12 to 16 years old, in their classes and give them free tools and resources that they can access by themselves. This information will have been collected by psychology undergraduate students and their validity will be confirmed by pediatric psychologists. This way, any adolescent will be able to access needed support from valid sources, especially if they are in a home environment that isn’t safe or supportive.

Project co-creators

– Catherine Tremblay, co-project leader, Social Innovation Management graduate student (Master’s degree)

– Grace Wanya, co-project leader, Entrepreneurship and Innovation graduate student (Master’s degree)