2018 International Early Psychosis Association (IEPA) 11th Biennial Conference: Boston, MA. October 7-10, 2018. Poster Presentation CHENG C, NADIN S, LEM C, KATT M, DEWA CS Acknowledgements: The NorthBEAT Project was funded by the Sick Kids Foundation in partnership with CIHR (2012-2015). The NorthBEAT Collaborative is supported by St. Joseph's Care Group and funded by the Ontario Trillium Foundation Youth Opportunities Fund (2017-2021).

1. BACKGROUND
development of a strategic systems collaborative to move research into action
Cheng, C.1,2,3
; Lem, C.1
; Nadin, S.1,2
1. 2. 3.
Consistent with our developmental approach to evaluation, the coordinating team regularly reflects on the Collaborative’s activities and lessons
learned. Key learnings include:
•Support Staff: The coordinating team should include a full-time coordinator. Strategic collaboratives have many pillars and simultaneous
activities and priorities. A position should be dedicated to overseeing daily operations and implementation of all elements of the workplan.
•Engagement Resources: Engaging a broad network across sectors within a vast geography takes time and resources. In our case, identifying
and engaging stakeholders took many months and continues. It is important to factor in the required resources (e.g., staff time, travel time,
etc.) into the workplan and budget.
•Youth Perspectives: It is important to include youth in strategies for youth engagement. Our ‘traditional’ #northbeatYAG recruitment methods
(email announcements and word of mouth through Collaborative members) were not very successful, resulting in only 1 recruit over 8
months. Learning from our mistakes, we hired 2 summer students as youth engagement coordinators to help in forming the YAG; with their
engagement, the YAG grew to 32 members in 3 months.
CONTEXT
Northwestern Ontario
(NWO) is a region with a
vast geography, scarce
population and many rural
and remote communities.
With only one Early
Psychosis Intervention (EPI)
program servicing the entire
region, many communities
struggle with limited access
to specialty services.
NWO
Population:
235 900
Land mass:
458 010 km2
2%
of Ontario’s
population
47%
of Ontario’s
landmass
ACHIEVEMENTS TO DATE
LESSONS LEARNED
The goes on:
MOVING KNOWLEDGE
eLearning working group formed to expand
existing training (Psychosis 101) to
an eLearning format so that service
providers across the system of care can
access eLearning EPI training materials
that are relevant to their contexts. The
next step is to hire eLearning experts to
facilitate the development of the curriculum (that
is currently in progress).
STRATEGIZE ADDITIONAL ACTIVITIES
NorthBEAT formed two advisory groups
to help guide its activities and
strategize. Advisory Groups formed:
The #northbeatYAG (youth advisory
group) with 32 members and
#northbeatFLAG (family and lived
experience advisory group) with 8
members. Recruitment is ongoing, with
monthly meetings.
SHARING KNOWLEDGE
Collaborative members began sharing
knowledge regarding their unique
service contexts at the 2017
workshop. The process of service
mapping began, with further
exploration of resources continuing
through spring-fall 2018.
INTRODUCING THE NORTHBEAT COLLABORATIVE
Decreased duration of untreated psychosis &
improved outcomes for youth with psychosis in
Northwestern Ontario.
Youth who experience psychosis in Northwestern Ontario (NWO) do not get the Early Psychosis Intervention (EPI) they need because:
i) they do not know about the EPI services available to them, and
ii) the individuals at the multi-sectoral locations they turn to for help are often unable to detect psychosis and/or do not know about
EPI services or how to refer there.
ISSUE
Our Collaborative will make it easier for NWO’s youth experiencing psychosis to get the services they need,
where and when they need them.
VISION
Bring together partners from multiple organizations into a formalized
Collaborative to:
• Build connections across organizations in the intersectoral system of care.
• Share knowledge about partner service contexts & record the mental health
processes, pathways and resources currently available in NWO communities to
support youth with psychosis, their families, and circle of care.
• Move knowledge about EPI to wider audiences through: i) sharing existing
educational resources; ii) co-creating resources with youth and families;
and, iii) adapting existing training to a sustainable (e-Learning) format
with content that is relevant to the different sectors of the Collaborative,
and supporting partners to implement the E-Learning training in their
organizations.
• Strategize additional activities and what else we can do to address the
barriers to EPI in NWO.
WHAT WE’LL DO
Long Term Outcomes & Impact
i) Youth and Families: Increased knowledge and ability to easily navigate to
specific EPI interventions and services.
ii) Service Providers: Improved capacity across multisectoral systems who interact
with youth with psychosis to detect early psychosis and intervene appropriately,
& to increase their awareness about EPI services and how to refer there.
WHAT WE’LL IMPACT
Figure 1:
NorthBEAT Collaborative Logic Model (simplified)
The NorthBEAT Collaborative (2017-2021) ) is a strategic systems collaborative of youth, families, researchers and
service providers committed to improving the system of care for youth with psychosis in NWO.
COMPOSITION
To date, the Collaborative has:
• 25 signed members from 22 organizations. Membership is multi-sectoral and includes providers
across the education, community and social services, mental health, and health sectors. Members sit
on different working groups, and contribute to service mapping and resource development and sharing.
• A Core Coordinating Team (comprised of the Project Lead and 2.4 FTE staff) provides administrative,
knowledge exchange and evaluation support to the Collaborative and its efforts, and implements and
tracks workplan activities and progress.
• A Youth Advisory Group and Family and Lived Experience Advisory Group guide initiative development, dissemination, and
evaluation activities.
BUILDING CONNECTIONS
November 31-December 1, 2017:
Knowledge Exchange Workshop. 62 people
attended representing 39 programs/
organizations across NWO. Attendees
included signed members as well
as newly identified potential partner
organizations. Activities included validating
the workplan and forming working groups.
2012 - 2015
The NorthBEAT Research Project
explored the service needs of
youth who experience first episode
psychosis in NWO. The study
identified barriers to EPI including an
isolating and disconnected system
of care, and a lack of knowledge
about psychosis and appropriate
intervention.
2016
NorthBEAT expanded
its scope to put
knowledge into
action and sought
opportunities to
address the barriers
to EPI identified
in the NorthBEAT
research.
2017-21
NorthBEAT received funding from the
Ontario Trillium Foundation – Youth
Opportunities Fund, to support a
4-year research-to-action strategic
initiative: the NorthBEAT Collaborative.
Youth with psychosis in Northwestern Ontario
do not get the help they need when they need it.
We’re going to change that.
COLLABORATIVE
SUPPORTED BY ST. JOSEPH’S CARE GROUP
& ONTARIO TRILLIUM FOUNDATION
2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
An agency of the Government of Ontario
Un organisme du gouvernement de l’Ontario
The NorthBEAT Collaborative is funded by the Ontario Trillium Foundation Youth Opportunities Fund
and sponsored by the Centre for Applied Health Research at St. Joseph’s Care Group.