Allegory-Based Literacy Empowerment (ABLE): Treatment Development Study of an Interactive Web and App-Based Platform to Bolster Coping and Mitigate Suicide Risk in Middle-schoolers

Mark Sinyor

Impact

  • The grant resulted in a free, school-based, mental health literacy and cognitive behavioural therapy skills curriculum available to teachers and youth across Canada and internationally.

  • The project also received a CIHR operating grant valued at $757,350 post the MHRC-IAM grant, which eventually helped the project’s expansion to other provinces and countries.

  • The online mental health literacy curriculum developed in this project has attracted users from over 78 countries and territories.

  • Ontario

  • Grant

  • University of Toronto

  • Sunnybrook Research Institute

  • Institute for Advancements in Mental Health

  • 2019-2020

  • Children and Youth Mental Health

  • Children (aged 1-12), Youth (aged 12-18), Family Members

About the Project

The project created an online mental health literacy curriculum for middle schoolers conveying concepts in during regular school language classes while reading a Harry Potter novel (the Prisoner of Azkaban). The curriculum aims to improve mental health awareness and knowledge and teaches Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) skills that can be used by youth to consider different ways of thinking and behaving in order to manage or prevent anxiety, depression, and other common mental health difficulties. The project’s objective was to test and apply this curriculum on a broader scale and to transform it to an online platform.

Methodology

The project involved the creation of a website containing mental health training material and resources. Parents, students and teachers were then directed to REDCap, an online research platform, to respond to surveys about their use and of the curriculum and its impact on their mental well-being.

Findings

The website that was a created as a result of this project (myowl.org) was found to be extremely useful as it included lesson plans, downloadable assignments and videos for students, a teacher manual for teachers and other mental health resources for both groups and parents.

This curriculum was successful in helping children and youth build their self-confidence, while learning and developing mechanisms to maintain their mental well-being. It also enabled increased mental health knowledge and awareness among children, teachers, parents and the wider community.

Project Outreach

This project was based in Ontario and was expanded to Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba and Quebec. The project has had people from over 78 countries and territories access the website, with active and continual usage reported in Canada, the USA, the United Kingdom, Australia and India.

Resources Created

  • Several papers created and a few more currently in progress.

  • A website with an online mental health curriculum: myowl.org