Call for Abstracts

CALL FOR ABSTRACTS – ASI 2019 FORUM

Supportive Environments for Child and Youth Mental Health – Our Shared Responsibility!
August 19-21, 2019, Charlottetown, PEI

ASI 2019 will present many opportunities for you to share your experience and knowledge and to learn from others, and we invite you to submit an abstract (short description) of your work. We welcome submissions that include various types of evidence: research, best practices and lived experience. Researchers, educators, community and workplace leaders, as well as youth leaders and change-makers are invited to submit an abstract. Learn more about the 2019 program. Presenters may apply for a subsidy.

The submission deadline is Friday, May 17, 2019.

Abstracts will be reviewed by a panel and decisions will be communicated by June 5.

We invite submissions that provide evidence related to policies and programs that address universal (for all) and targeted (vulnerable groups and those at higher-risk) approaches to promoting supportive environments for child and youth mental health across diverse sectors and

in key settings including: home, schools, colleges, communities, workplaces, online, and health services in a variety of geographic regions. The Call for Abstracts is for three different types of sessions, as described below.

August 19 – Atlantic Community Showcase 

This year the Atlantic Community Showcase will provide an opportunity to celebrate initiatives that are advancing the ASI Call to Action on leadership to promote child and youth mental health (see updated Call to Action at www.asi-iea.ca). Work that is clearly linked to a specific area of the Call to Action – policy, practice, programs, networks, research and knowledge exchange – will be considered.

Selected presenters will showcase their work to all Forum participants at the Opening Ceremony on August 19th by providing:

  • a 2 minute sales pitch on stage, and
  • an invitation to view a table top or poster presentation during the reception after the Opening Ceremony

Presentation materials will be prominently displayed for the duration of the Forum (August 19-21) with opportunities for ongoing dialogue with Forum participants.

Click here for more information and to submit an abstract.

August 20 – Concurrent Sessions
Updating the Evidence: Presentations and Conversation

These concurrent sessions will share evidence that complements and adds to our understanding of supportive environments for child and youth mental health. Community-based or academic researchers are invited to present evidence from diverse sources such as traditional research, evaluation of promising practices, and narratives of lived experience.

Five concurrent sessions will be offered in thematic areas (to be determined based on the abstracts submitted). Each session will feature three presenters who will have 15 minutes to present their findings, followed by general discussion on the following questions:

  • How does this work fit into and advance the ASI Call to Action?
  • What are the implications for upstream investment and a whole society approach to mental health promotion?

Results of these discussions will be included in the final plenary session on August 21st.

Click here for more information and to submit an abstract.

August 21 – Concurrent Workshops – Skill Development

ASI 2019 will offer 5 workshops in key areas that promote supportive social, cultural and physical environments for child and youth mental health through the life course.

The workshops will enhance participants’ skills in the use of tools and methods that support positive environments for child and youth mental health; and advance the ASI Call to Action in areas of practice, programs, policies, knowledge exchange, or networks.  We are seeking workshops in areas of:

  1. Creating supportive environments that provide a positive, mentally healthy situation in homes, schools, workplaces, virtual settings, public spaces, etc. and protect people (children, caregivers, teachers, first responders) from known risk factors.

or

  1. Providing resources and programs that enable people — especially children and youth — to become resilient, navigate their environments and address environmental factors that promote sustainability and overall health through the life course.


Researchers, educators, community and/or workplace leaders, as well as youth and change-makers are invited to submit.

The workshops must be interactive with attendees taking away new skills. Workshops will be scheduled for 60 minutes with an additional 15 minutes for discussion to close the session.

Click here for more information and to submit an abstract.