Working together to provide a positive future for our children and youth.
The Planet Youth Battlefords and Area project focuses on youth in the Battlefords and surrounding First Nation communities. Youth living in these areas face social challenges that include high crime rates, gang activity, and drug use, with recent data indicating elevated levels of anxiety and depression among high school students compared to Canadian averages. The project aims to enhance community goal setting and adapt the implementation of the Icelandic Prevention Model (IPM) to local cultural contexts.
Planet Youth Battlefords and Area aim to survey grade 10 students across three school divisions with approximately 450 high school students and including a First Nation high school. Once data is collected, Planet Youth Battlefords and Area plan to create interventions targeting grade 7 and 8 students, so the impacts of the interventions can be understood in future grade 10 data collection surveys.
Battle River Treaty 6 Health Centre Inc. (BRT6HC), a First Nations-owned and operated healthcare organization, provides leadership for this project. BRT6HC provides culturally safe health services to promote the physical, mental, social, and spiritual well-being of its member bands and the surrounding community. The organization employs youth counsellors who focus on mental health and addictions within partnering First Nations schools and engage with urban youth through various programs and services. BRT6HC is well-suited to lead this project due to the organization’s strong community partnerships, including local health authorities and school boards to help youth in crisis, train staff and support youth initiatives.
Research collaborative
BRT6HC is working with Dr. Holly Graham, Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Saskatchewan, Indigenous Research Chair in Nursing, and a member of the Thunderchild First Nation, to assess the impact of the coalition and IPM process in the Battlefords and Area community. This will support the identification of evidence-based interventions while contributing to the larger academic field of IPM implementation.
Lead organization: Battle River Treaty 6 Health Centre Inc. (BRT6HC)
Website: brt6hc.ca
Contact: Sherri Poitras, Planet Youth Battlefords & Area Coordinator
Location: North Battleford and surrounding area, SK
The Battlefords is the name given to the City of North Battleford and the Town of Battleford because of their close vicinity. The Battlefords is also a central hub for eight surrounding First Nations Communities.
This project is funded as part of the Public Health Agency of Canada’s Youth Substance Use Prevention Program (YSUPP). Learn more here.
