U of A innovators leading to better mental health care

From left, top row: Carla Hilario, Kate Storey, Nese Yuksel. Bottom row: Vincent Agyapong, Margie Davenport, Suzette Brémault-Phillips

The Canadian Mental Health Association’s (CMHA) Mental Health Week runs from May 2–6 this year and the University of Alberta’s College of Health Sciences is spotlighting 10 of our contributions to mental health innovation and research.

Feelings of overwhelm can be common from the stress of everyday life.

If you are feeling overwhelmed or depressed, the U of A provides free, confidential counselling and resources for student mental health concerns and all U of A staff, faculty, graduate students and their eligible dependents have access to crisis resources 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Here are 10 ways the faculties within the College of Health Sciences are leading mental health research and innovation.

• An augmented reality app developed by the Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine’s Rehabilitation Robotics Lab prompts users to think about how they’re feeling on a day-to-day basis. The app features Yaro the dog, who guides users with a series of questions for self-reflection.

• Nursing professor Carla Hilario is working to understand the relationships between the pandemic and the declining mental health of young Albertans.

• School of Public Health professor Kate Storey understands the importance of sleep for mental health. Here are seven tips to help you take control of your sleep.

• Regular exercise may help new and expecting moms stave off depression during the pandemic according to a study led by Faculty of Kinesiology, Sport, and Recreation professor Margie Davenport.

• Nursing professor Susan Sommerfeldt is working with Covenant Health on two projects that aim to document experiences and foster mental wellness in workplace culture.

• Clinical psychiatry professor Vincent Agyapong led a project to develop free text messaging services to support the mental health of Alberta’s first responders. His team launched a similar text service, Text4Hope, in March 2020 to support mental health during the pandemic.

• Evidence suggests that university student-athletes experience poor mental health at higher rates than the general population. To better understand and support mental health in the university sports setting, a Faculty of Kinesiology, Sport, and Recreation research team studied how mentally healthy women student-athletes approached their season.

• The mental wellness of doctors is a marathon effort and training should start in medical school, according to Oksana Babenko, professor of medical education.

• More awareness is needed when it comes to mental health issues associated with women’s menopause, according to pharmacy professor Nese Yuksel.

• Here are seven simple, evidence-based tips to help you cope with anxiety and depression, build resilience and boost your mental health, from Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine professor Suzette Brémault-Phillips.