'Youth have really grown the project': Program uses VR to boost mental health in remote communities
A new Saskatchewan Polytech program is using virtual reality (VR) technology to improve the mental health of youth living in remote communities.
“VR is a good approach because of the audience we’re trying to reach and that’s our youth,” Martha Morin a youth advocate from Le Loche said in a promotion video from Saskatchewan Polytechnic.
Research manager with the Centre for Health Research, Innovation and Scholarships Lindsay Boechler said her background as a paramedic inspired the program.
“I've witnessed some of these barriers that a lot of youth, especially indigenous youth are experiencing, especially when it comes to mental health care and wellness support,” she told CTV News.
Boechler partnered with Dene High School in La Loche, Sask. in 2020 to kick off the program.
“We did some research there,” she said. “We conducted some focus groups and interviews. We really just are thinking at what were the existing resources, where the gaps in care existed, and what the community wanted to see happen.
She said the youth were attracted to it right away.
VR has helped youth from La Loche connect with youth from other communities, and they are looking at ways to expand the program, Boechler said.
“We're working with clinicians to see how this could evolve in a safe and secure manner where they can offer some of those resources through VR. So it's really kind of grown through the use and the community's voice along the way. And now we're moving on to the second phase where we're starting to expand our partnerships. We're getting more interest from other communities to join.”
“Finding different strategies towards wellness, talk therapy is one strategy virtual reality programs are another strategy and so forth. The more strategies you have the more successful we could be at helping students become well,” Morin said in the promotional video.
Boechler said they started the program in 2020 and the pandemic impacted their work by initially preventing them from going into the community.
“When we were able to go to the community and collect the data, even though it wasn't necessarily a COVID study, the impacts of the increased isolation due to COVID and some of the restrictions were really highlighted in that data collection, kind of the long-lasting impacts.”
However, Boechler said there were some positive things that came out of the pandemic.
“It kind of forced the Health Authority or clinicians to offer some of their care virtually that they've never considered doing that way before,” she said.
“It's really opened people up to being open to providing services or services alternatively like using VR, rather than just face to face or over the phone.”
The program was offered to students at the high school in Grades 9 to 12 and Boechler said she invited all the students to connect and see the equipment.
“From that, there are about eight students, maybe 10, that have shown a great deal of interest in it and have formed a Student Advisory Committee for the project.”
“If I could take the VR camera anywhere, I’d like to take it to the beach and record a sunset and record even the nighttime stars over there it’s really nice,” student Brayson Piche said in the promotional video.
“Now the youth have really grown the project and have opened our eyes to have the possibility or what the possibilities are,” Boechler said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Monthly earnings rise, payroll employment falls: jobs report
The number of vacant jobs in Canada increased in February, while monthly payroll employment decreased in food services, manufacturing, and retail trade, among other sectors.
Doctors say capital gains tax changes will jeopardize their retirement. Is that true?
The Canadian Medical Association asserts the Liberals' proposed changes to capital gains taxation will put doctors' retirement savings in jeopardy, but some financial experts insist incorporated professionals are not as doomed as they say they are.
Remains from a mother-daughter cold case were found nearly 24 years later, after a deathbed confession from the suspect
A West Virginia father is getting some sense of closure after authorities found the remains of his young daughter and her mother following a deathbed confession from the man believed to have fatally shot them nearly two decades ago.
Something in the water? Canadian family latest to spot elusive 'Loch Ness Monster'
For centuries, people have wondered what, if anything, might be lurking beneath the surface of Loch Ness in Scotland. When Canadian couple Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman visited the Scottish highlands earlier this month with their two children, they didn’t expect to become part of the mystery.
What do weight loss drugs mean for a diet industry built on eating less and exercising more?
Recent injected drugs like Wegovy and its predecessor, the diabetes medication Ozempic, are reshaping the health and fitness industries.
2 military horses that broke free and ran loose across London are in serious condition
Two military horses that bolted and ran miles through the streets of London after being spooked by construction noise and tossing their riders were in a serious condition and required operations, a British government official said Thursday.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
It's no secret that spring can be a tumultuous time for Canadian weather, and as an unseasonably mild El Nino winter gives way to summer, there's bound to be a few swings in temperature that seem out of the ordinary. From Ontario to the Atlantic, though, this week is about to feel a little erratic.
He replaced Mickey Mantle. Now baseball's oldest living major leaguer is turning 100
The oldest living former major leaguer, Art Schallock turns 100 on Thursday and is being celebrated in the Bay Area and beyond as the milestone approaches.