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Updated: Mar 17, 2021

Thanks to generous community support, construction of Calgary’s first Centre for Child and Adolescent Mental Health has now begun. Through a partnership among Alberta Health Services, the Alberta Children’s Hospital Foundation and the community, the Centre will begin providing new services for young people and their families in Fall 2022. Even before the Centre opens, donations to the Build Them Up campaign are making a number of crucial programs and research initiatives possible, including Facing Your Fears.

 

A program designed to help children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) overcome their anxiety is changing the lives of Calgary families.


Facing Your Fears is an established cognitive behavioural therapy geared toward youth with high-functioning ASD. Brought to Calgary by experts at the Alberta Children’s Hospital Research Institute (ACHRI) and several clinics within Alberta Health Services, the program helps kids identify their worries and tackle them head-on.


'More crippling than the diagnosis'


It’s part of a five-year research project funded by community donations to the Alberta Children’s Hospital Foundation and headed by Dr. Carly McMorris, an assistant professor at the University of Calgary and a member of ACHRI.

Dr. Carly McMorris

“We know that children with autism are at a heightened risk of experiencing anxiety, which is often more crippling than the diagnosis – it significantly impacts kids and families,” says McMorris.


“With the families we have been able to enroll in Facing Your Fears, we are seeing dramatic improvements, not just in the kids, but in the quality of life for the entire family.”


McMorris is collecting data for her national study that aims to understand how best to deliver the program and which families will benefit the most.

The Hodge family is one of many who have benefited. Isabella was recently diagnosed with ASD, confirming suspicions long held by her mom, Jennifer. Her little girl experienced multiple fears that were ever-present and debilitating — fears that held Isabella back from living her best life as an 11-year-old.




Dismantling the fears, one by one


“In the day-to-day, when your child won’t have a bath on their own, when they won’t sleep in their own bed, when they’re afraid of people stopping by the house and you don’t know where it’s all coming from, it’s a lot,” says Jennifer.


Guided by a team of experts that included psychologists, occupational therapists and speech and language therapists, Jennifer and Isabella spent 14 weeks learning to understand Isabella’s fears and how to dismantle them, one by one.


The program included classes, workbooks designed for both the parent and child, deep breathing techniques, new coping skills and strategies for self-calming, as well as a reward system to encourage Isabella along her journey.


One of the tools that helps them track progress is a method called the Stress-O-Meter, which asks kids to gauge their anxiety on a scale from zero to eight. In the beginning, sleeping alone was a solid eight for Isabella. By the end of the program, it was zero.

Jennifer Hodge and her daughter, Isabella, says Facing Your Fears was transformative.

“We were very fortunate to get into this program. It was really, really helpful, “says Jennifer. “Will Isabella have new anxieties? Yes, of course. But now I know how to help her overcome them. We have the tools.”

“It’s so important for these kids to learn these coping skills for when they get out there into the world." - Jennifer Hodge, mom

McMorris says what they’ve seen with Facing Your Fears already is so encouraging they are growing the program to reach even more families in the community.


“Our goal is to expand this program to help kids with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders,” she says.


For Jennifer and Isabella, Facing Your Fears was an invaluable and empowering experience and Jennifer hopes the program continues so that more families benefit.


“It’s so important for these kids to learn these coping skills for when they get out there into the world. We are so grateful for the community support that makes this program possible,” she says. “And to know this is all part of research, that’s so important to us, to be part of something that’s going to help more people in the future.”


The new Centre will be one of the most robust research-intensive community-based mental health care facilities for young people in Canada, with a direct pipeline from discovery to care – all in one setting. In partnership with Alberta Health Services, the research initiatives involve several faculties at the University of Calgary, led by experts from the Owerko Centre at the Alberta Children’s Hospital Research Institute and the Mathison Centre at the Hotchkiss Brain Institute.

Be part of the movement to make this Centre a reality.

Donate today.


Calgary research funded by donations to Build Them Up campaign could reshape the way specialists care for children and youth with anxiety, depression


Thanks to generous community support, construction of Calgary’s first Centre for Child and Adolescent Mental Health has now begun. Through a partnership among Alberta Health Services, the Alberta Children’s Hospital Foundation and the community, the Centre will begin providing new services for young people and their families in Fall 2022. Even before the Centre opens, donations to the #BuildThemUp campaign are making a number of crucial programs and research initiatives possible, including a trailblazing pharmacogenetics program.

 

When a child suffers from anxiety or depression, the right medication can be transformative. Unfortunately, finding the right medication – and the right dose – isn’t easy.


Medication can affect kids in different ways and there are some children who may not improve or will suffer an adverse reaction. For kids already trying to manage anxiety or depression, it’s not healthy. For their helpless parents, it’s heartbreaking.


Scientists now know answers lie in a child’s genetic makeup, and research at the new Centre for Child and Adolescent Mental Health will explore new frontiers of precision medicine that could reshape the way specialists care for kids.


Dr. Chad Bousman is a pharmacogeneticist within the Alberta Children’s Hospital Research Institute (ACHRI) at the University of Calgary who studies how genes affect a child’s response to drugs. He specializes in medications used to treat mental health issues for kids and is conducting innovative research funded by community donations through the Alberta Children’s Hospital Foundation.


His project is Canada’s first evidence-based pharmacogenetic testing service in child mental health and is among the suite of priority research projects that will integrate with care at the Centre.

Dr. Chad Bousman studies how genes affect a child's response to drugs.

“Antidepressants take somewhere between five and eight weeks to work,” says Bousman. “If you have to wait that long to find out it doesn’t work, and then you have to move on to another medication and wait five or eight weeks to see if it works, you can see how that just isn’t helping patients.”


Two genes responsible for the way our bodies metabolize mental health medications have already been identified. Using DNA harvested from saliva, Bousman can analyze an individual’s genetic makeup and identify who will likely metabolize the drug properly, and who will not. Based on a young person’s unique metabolic profile, Bousman can then make informed recommendations around medications and proper dosage.

“There’s a lot of potential here for us to be a model for the world in how to do this, and it’s really exciting."Dr. Chad Bousman

Bousman says the data collected from willing participants at the Centre for Child and Adolescent Mental Health will provide scientists with invaluable genetic information that will enable future discoveries.


“We’re at the tip of an iceberg here,” he says. “Two genes are good, but there are many more that are involved in how people respond to mental health drugs. This will help identify them.”


“There’s a lot of potential here for us to be a model for the world in how to do this, and it’s really exciting,” says Bousman.


What’s exciting for researchers is transformative for families.

"I want this for everyone." - Naomi Pearce, 18

Naomi Pearce was heading into Grade 11 when she was diagnosed with depression and anxiety. Her doctor prescribed antidepressants and there was no change. She was put on another medication, however, the dosage was too low.


“It worked a little, but not enough,” says Naomi.


Naomi spiraled until one day another doctor urged her to seek immediate attention at the Alberta Children’s Hospital.


She was admitted and then moved to the adolescent mental health unit at Foothills Medical Centre where over a period of two months she began to heal.


That was two years ago. Today she is in college, “alive and thriving” and is encouraged by Bousman’s research.


“I want this for everyone,” she says. “Thinking back to my own experience with the trials and errors of antidepressants, it was frustrating. I was already struggling with so many other things in my life, and then to have to deal with ‘try this medication,’ and ‘try that medication,’ it was hard, and I still wasn’t getting better, so this is really exciting.”


Naomi Pearce, 18, is excited by Dr. Bousman's research and the hope it offers to kids and families in our community.

The new Centre will be one of the most robust research-intensive community-based mental health care facilities for young people in Canada, with a direct pipeline from discovery to care – all in one setting. In partnership with Alberta Health Services, the research initiatives involve several faculties at the University of Calgary, led by experts from the Owerko Centre at the Alberta Children’s Hospital Research Institute and the Mathison Centre at the Hotchkiss Brain Institute.

Be part of the movement to make this Centre a reality.

Donate today.


Updated: Sep 28, 2021



A new Centre for Child and Adolescent Mental Health is one step closer to reality

with today’s official groundbreaking ceremony in the northwest community of Hounsfield Heights.

Being built in partnership between Alberta Health Services (AHS) and the Alberta Children’s Hospital Foundation, the centre will provide young people with new and enhanced services, including a walk-in clinic with specialized triage and the opportunity for immediate referrals to onsite programs. These community-based services will provide youth and their families with care designed to stabilize and manage escalating illness and, ideally, prevent hospitalization.


“Our government is committed to ensuring healthy futures for children and youth with mental health challenges, as well as their families,” says Alberta Premier Jason Kenney. “This centre is a great example of how innovative care can be delivered in the community. We believe it will be a tremendous source of hope and help for young people.

The centre is expected to open in late 2021. In addition to the walk-in clinic, the three-storey, 3,200-sq.-m facility will also offer an intensive treatment program and a day hospital. The facility’s services will augment and integrate with existing services provided by AHS and community-based agencies.

“This centre will go a long way in helping young people build resilience, improve mental health and put them on a path toward recovery.” - Jason Luan, Associate Minister of Mental Health and Addictions
Associate Minister of Mental Health and Addictions, Jason Luan.

“We know when children and youth are facing mental health issues, early intervention is key to helping them recover and lead healthy, successful lives,” says Jason Luan, Associate Minister of Mental Health and Addictions. “This centre will go a long way in helping young people build resilience, improve mental health and put them on a path toward recovery.”


Adds AHS Board Chair David Weyant: “We are pleased to officially kick off construction of the new Centre for Child and Adolescent Mental Health in Calgary. The centre will help us further our goal of providing integrated care to children and youth in our community who experience mental health issues.”

The centre will be one of the most robust research-intensive, community-based mental healthcare facilities for young people in Canada. In partnership with AHS, the research initiatives involve several faculties at the University of Calgary, led by experts from the Owerko Centre at the Alberta Children’s Hospital Research Institute and the Mathison Centre at the Hotchkiss Brain Institute.


'Once-in-a-lifetime opportunity' for world-leading research

“Beyond serving as an innovative clinical care facility, this new centre represents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to develop and implement a world-leading mental health research program with a direct pipeline from discovery to care – all in one setting,” says Deborah Yedlin, Chancellor of the University of Calgary. “Through this centre, we will be enabling research that has never before been possible in our community.”

With design and planning work well underway, the Alberta Children’s Hospital Foundation’s Build Them Up campaign will fund construction of the centre, along with program and research enhancements. AHS will provide operational funding to staff and manage the new facility.


Just today, the Alberta Children's Hospital Foundation reached its $50-million fundraising goal, with one last donation made at the event itself.

"We are humbled by the response." - Saifa Koonar, President and CEO, Alberta Children's Hospital Foundation
Saifa Koonar, President and CEO of the Alberta Children's Hospital Foundation

“We are humbled by the response – incredibly grateful to all those who have stepped up so quickly and so generously in support of the young people and families who will benefit from this centre,” says Saifa Koonar, President and CEO of the Alberta Children’s Hospital Foundation.

Adds campaign Chair Darlene Haslam: “Whether it’s for physical or mental health, this community continues to ensure that our children receive the very best care."

The centre’s design, programs and research are being informed by consultations with other child and adolescent mental health centres across Canada, the U.S. and Australia. Young people and their families from Calgary are also important advisors on the initiative.


“We want to make the centre as comfortable as possible for the kids and families who will need it,” says Naomi Pearce, a member of the centre’s Youth Advisory Council. “We hope knowing it was made just for them will encourage kids to go for help as soon as they start to struggle – before things get critical.”


Naomi Pearce, 18, a member of the centre's Youth Advisory Council


Be part of the movement to make this Centre a reality.

Donate today.


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