Resiliency Resources! (And Other Cool Stuff)

With the conference over it is now time to get to work and use the knowledge gained to keep working on building resiliency in schools. Here are some links that might help:

• Joseph Boyden’s powerful true story, The First Time I Died. During the gala evening Joseph spoke about this part of his life and also told us many other deeply personal and moving stories which he shared for the first time in public.


• Information on the Sudbury & District Health Unit’s Can You Feel It? campaign


• Dr. Hammond’s Resiliency Initiatives organization


• Information about Youth Engagement Programs


• Information on Dr. McVey’s work on disordered eating can be found here, here, and here


• Dr. McVey’s The Student Body website on factors which trigger unhealthy dieting


• A short video on the Outdoor Adventure Leadership Experience, and information on the research Stephen Ritchie of Laurentian University has done on it


• Information on adaptive sport from ParaSport Ontario and the Canadian Paralympic Committee

If you have any other helpful resources share them in the comments section!

-Josh

The Gala

I am sure that Thursday night’s gala was a highlight of the forum for everyone; it certainly was for me. There was great food and great company, entertainment provided by a very talented group of youth, and an extremely powerful and moving talk by Joseph Boyden. Even Dr. Arlene King, the Chief Medical Officer of Health of Ontario, said a few words and congratulated the organizing committee on the wonderful job they did in bringing all of this together.

Supper began with young performers Alessandro Costantini and Janie Pinard serenading us with a song from Cabaret. Throughout the night they returned and entertained us many more times with a variety of music, they sang everything from Shrek to Poison. Although this may seem like a random selection of songs, they were all chosen specifically to be in line with the theme of resiliency. Last year Alessandro formed Y.E.S. (Youth Entertaining Sudbury), a group of youth dedicated to entertaining Sudbury through theatre. In August 2010 they performed their first show, Hair, at the Sudbury Theatre Centre; I saw this show and it was amazing! This summer they will be performing Rent; the cast came on stage near the end of supper to sing a medley of songs from the show (to a standing ovation), and if you are near Sudbury in August I definitely recommend getting a ticket to the play.

After supper Joseph Boyden took the stage, and said how jealous his wife would be when he told her about the Glee-like talent of these performers. Joseph is originally from Ontario and spent many years teaching in Moosonee, a place he considers his second home, but now lives in New Orleans. Joseph told us a number of deeply personal and moving stories about his life and the struggles that he and his friends have faced. I fear that to retell them myself would not do them justice or come close to capturing the emotion felt by everyone in the room that night; but for an idea of the power of his talk listen to the true story The First Time I Died in his own words. Joseph’s talk left not a single dry eye in the room, but ended leaving everyone with a sense of hope for the future.

The night ended with the return of the cast of Rent. This time they performed songs from their past, singing music from Hair. By the end they had the whole room standing, clapping, and singing along. Some people were even seen dancing around the room. The room was buzzing, and it was clear that everyone had a great time. Over the past year I have attended a number of conferences, and a number of conference dinners, and can safely say that this was the most interesting, engaging and fun of them all! I want to know what you thought, share your favourite parts of the gala in the comments section!

-Josh

Youth Engagement: A How-To Guide

The conference ended with one final session on Friday afternoon. I chose to attend the session on the Ontario Public Health Association Youth Engagement Project, led by Jennifer Lodge of the Ontario Public Health Association. This session also featured two colleagues of mine at the Sudbury & District Health Unit: Gisele Bourgoin and Nathalie Thistle, Public Health Nurses with the school health promotion program. Gisele and Nathalie lead a youth engagement project at a local elementary school for a group of students from grades four to eight. Also presenting at this session were two students from the group who came to share what they do in this after school program.

Jennifer introduced the concept of the Youth Engagement Project to us and explained how it is a community based empowerment approach to building resiliency in youth. After giving us a bit of background on the history of the Youth Engagement Project, where the funding came from, and which other health units also hosted pilot projects, Jennifer turned it over to Gisele and Nathalie. The two of them told us specifically about the development of the Sudbury program. The Sudbury & District Health Unit has a group of Youth Program Advisors (some of which were seen around the forum, starring in the Can You Feel It? video, working at the campaign booth, and entertaining us during Thursday night’s dinner) who they turned to for advice. It was decided that it would be best for any youth engagement project to have a room of its own in the schools, a place that was not associated with class. Surveys done by the Sudbury & District Health Unit with local youth showed stress was a primary health issue for youth; therefore it was decided that any program they developed should have a focus on stress management.

Nathalie and Gisele also led us in an icebreaker activity; one of the students stood in the middle of the room and we all stood in a circle around him. We were each given a ball to throw at him, and when we did we shouted out a pressure facing him. One lucky volunteer was given the role of his mother and it was her job to try and protect him from all of our projectiles; it was a tough task. Afterwards we repeated this activity, but with two more volunteers representing a teacher and a coach who also helped to protect the student. They were given a short time to come up with a plan, and as the coach pointed out it was actually the student who spoke up first to offer a solution to their network of support. An important lesson, listen to what youth have to say, they might just know what kind of help they need! This time around it was much more difficult for the stressors we were throwing to hit the student, the support network was effective.

Next, the two students told us about the creation of the program room at their school as well as what they do each week. They told us about how the room is a space where no one is judged and all are treated as equals and with respect. They developed their own ways to cope with stress, and end each gathering with a relaxation method. Other activities happen as well, like cooking classes and celebrations of all kinds. The students also told us of how they are ambassadors in their school and have done activities such as performing a skit to teach other students about stress management. A few weeks ago, I had the privilege of going into their school and joining the Youth Engagement Group for an afternoon; the kids were all having a fun time, and can make a great three-bean salad!

From what I have seen, programs like this can make a very large difference in the lives of students; they help to create a support network to enhance resiliency skills, improve social skills, and provide a sense of belonging. Schools need more programs like this! Important things mentioned to keep in mind when developing these kinds of programs are that food and celebrations are important, students like to move quickly through projects to see results, there should be a space separate from classrooms for the program, school and agency support is most definitely needed, and it is very important to be flexible.

For more information about Youth Engagement Programs visit http://www.youthengagement.ca/

-Josh

Building Youth Resilience

Thursday afternoon I attended the “Building Youth Resilience: Ingredients for Success” session given by Janet Leadbeater of the Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit. At this session Janet spoke about a program her Health Unit had piloted with the goal of increasing youth knowledge and practice of resiliency. The program targeted youth aged fifteen to seventeen. Resiliency was defined at one point in this session as “the ability to manage or adapt to life’s challenges and move forward with hope and optimism.” It was noted that moving forward is an important part and yet is not included in all definitions of resiliency. Interestingly, the morning's keynote speaker, Dr. Hammond, and his Resiliency Initiatives group were involved in evaluation of this program, and the Resiliency Initiatives framework was an important part of this.

This program was different in that there was no set curriculum for it. The PHNs delivering it were flexible with what they did and let the youth be a part of the process. They took the time to listen to the youth’s stories and suggestions. Although this opening up the program to be so flexible was difficult at first, Janet spoke of how they found that it led to the youth being more engaged with the program, even those they thought may be disruptive. The youth groups talked about a wide variety of topics, ranging from knowledge and skill development to dealing with change, stress, and pressure. After discussing these topics, the youth eventually created their own marketing campaign to promote what they had learned. Four very creative and well designed posters were made by the youth, as well as a video about how to deal with the stresses of transitioning from grade eight to grade nine.

Janet spoke about how from this experience some surprising things were learnt. The youth do not see their community as a strength for them, they do not feel the support of the community. However, Janet emphasized that it is up to the community to make a change, not the youth. She also mentioned that the youth struggled when asked to write about their own strengths; it was easy for them to talk about their weaknesses but not very easy to identify strengths. I believe this is something that must be addressed; we must help youth to be able to identify what they are good at. Constructive criticism is helpful to improve on weaknesses, but there must also be some praise to encourage youth and help provide them with a sense of self-worth. Thank you Janet for an insightful and engaging presentation!

-Josh

Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own

The Can You Feel It? stress workshop and resource guide was launched this morning at the forum. It was developed by the Sudbury & District Health Unit because of a large number of local high school students identifying stress as their top health priority in a survey conducted by the Health Unit’s School Team. I was in high school back when this survey was done, and while there is no way of knowing for sure if I took part in this one specifically, I do remember writing stress down on some sort of health survey in a classroom many years ago...

High school doesn’t seem that long ago, but I am a completely different person when it comes to dealing with stress now than I was then. The second year of my undergrad was one of the most stressful periods of my life. It was sink or swim and I had to learn how to cope or find a new direction. I made it through, and my successes and failures in that year helped me to become the person I am today. I have always been an independent person, but beginning in that year I truly learnt that some things cannot be done on my own and there is no shame in seeking help.

Methods of dealing with stress and hardship are difficult to learn on your own. The Can You Feel It? video, workshop, and resource guide helps teens to gain these skills. It will help them to learn that stress is not permanent, it comes and goes, and they can control their reaction to it. By gaining these skills at this time teens will not only be better able to deal with their current stresses, but will also be more prepared for all that comes afterwards.

The Can You Feel It? resources are available not only to schools in the Sudbury area, but also for other health units to use and share. As I have learnt in my life, independence is good but sometimes it is best to work with others. To learn more about the campaign visit the Sudbury & District Health Unit website or click here to view the trailer for the Can You Feel It? video. Tell me what you think about the campaign, or about any programs you know of to share, in the comments below.

Listen to me now
I need to let you know
You don’t have to go it alone
Sometimes you can’t make it on your own
-From “Sometimes You Can’t Make It On Your Own” by U2

-Josh