A learning health system to monitor, guide and advance quality of care, research and policy within Aire ouverte, Quebec’s integrated youth services initiative

Équipe

Srividya N. Iyer (Université McGill), Amal Abdel-Baki (Centre hospitalier de l’université de Montreal (CHUM), Naïma Bentayeb (École nationale d’administration publique), Martin Goyette (ENAP / cotitulaire CRJ)

Financement

IRSC 2024-2029

Résumé

Youth is a period of promise, but also a time when most mental health problems emerge. Unfortunately, few youths have access to quality, timely, youth-friendly care. In Canada, integrated youth services (IYS) are being built to solve these problems by providing a “one-stop” access to mental, physical, and sexual health, substance use, work and study supports, and peer support. Quebec’s IYS initiative is called Aire Ouverte. To offer quality services adapted to youth needs and values, we aim to collaborate with Aire Ouverte hubs so they can continuously collect and learn from real-time data to improve their practices and find ways to better serve youth, and so on. This cycle is called a learning health system. A learning health system can spark continuous improvement and innovation, and help those providing, receiving and planning services to learn, share and grow together. We will co-design a learning health system for Aire ouverte with our team, which includes youth, families, clinicians, managers, researchers, and policymakers from Quebec’s Ministry of Health and Social Services. Co-design will involve sharing perspectives, testing digital infrastructures, reviewing documents, looking at data, giving feedback, a consensus conference, and making decisions together. Our project will give Aire Ouverte clinicians opportunities for training (including on IYS values), and foster strategies for recruiting, retaining and ensuring the wellbeing of people working at Aire ouverte. Overall, our project will ensure that data collection, research and evaluation are relevant for all involved and have the potential to fill equity gaps (e.g., increase access for those who typically face barriers, like those living in remote areas); change services and policies in a timely manner; and thereby improve the lives of youth and their families. Our findings will strengthen Aire ouverte and other services like it in Canada and around the world