Youth Report – Healthy Youth Summit

What was the Summit?

Co-led by IHDCYH’s Youth Advisory Council (YAC), the Healthy Youth Summit took place on July 7 and 8 2023.

It brought research leads including youth co-leads from the first cohort of CIHR Healthy Youth Catalyst Grant recipients together with interested community members, researchers, partners, funders, policymakers, and youth to discuss topics including Canada’s Youth Policy, the state of the science of youth health and wellbeing, how to engage youth in health research, and how to communicate research impact. The key takeaways from the Summit will inform the future of IHDCYH’s Healthy Youth Initiative!

Testimonials

Eleanor Duffley

Saint John, NB – IHDCYH YAC

My key takeaways, and what I hope others take away from the summit is the importance of amplifying youth voices in health research by engaging youth as participants, researchers, advisors, and knowledge mobilizers at any and all stages of the research process. I also took away the importance of creating innovative research methodologies that make youth engagement in research more equitable and accessible. Lastly, I learned that providing training, skill-building, compensation and networking opportunities for youth engaged in the health research process can contribute to long-term benefits for the population of interest.

Malvina Chhina

Vancouver, BC – IHDCYH YAC

For myself, a key takeaway was not to undervalue the worth of my own lived experiences just because I am younger. My age is not a detriment to my value, but an asset. Many panelists spoke to their own lived experiences, and how that is what got them to where they are today. It struck me how each of them have lived completely different lives, and that diversity is what is so priceless.

Vivek Gill

Vancouver BC – IHDCYH YAC

I was so impressed by the quality of our youth speakers, and the passion they bring to the work they do—huge kudos to those who sought them out! I hope that people walked away from the HYS with the optimism that I share for the future. I hope they understand that youth are ready and able to be engaged at all levels of research and decision-making, and that it is incumbent upon those in positions of power to act and engage them meaningfully.

Jolie Gan

Calgary, AB – IHDCYH YAC

It was particularly interesting to hear from diverse perspectives that are not presently represented in modern healthcare or education, such as from Indigenous perspectives or youth councils – or even youth patients themselves. I hope that policymakers and government workers realize the potential that youth can have – not just through the summit and the discussion topics, but even in putting an event together.

Ash Kolstad

Calgary AB – IHDCYH YAC

I could not believe that I had been on Zoom and built friendships with so many other YAC members over the past 3 years, and yet never actually met them in person until this conference. Having all of us complete those cheesy B-roll footages together with the videographer and sitting around the table at the rehearsal will forever be a genuine and happy memory for me.

Ping Du Mont

Toronto ON – IHDCYH YAC

The Health Youth Summit was really empowering in every regard for youth! It was co-organized and hosted by youth, the keynote and other speakers were youth, roundtables where important discussions were held all included youth, and now its success is evaluated based on youth perspectives and feedback! I think that probably makes this conference quite unique and a model for others researching children and youth to follow! I was really excited to be there, to help out on the ground, and to learn from the really diverse experiences of the panellists. Having the options of online and in-person attendance was sensitive to potential access issues and maximized the space available. 

Social Media Impact

Fae Johnstone

I had a phenomenal time at the @CIHR_IHDCYH #HealthyYouthSummit in Toronto over the past 2 days.

Grateful for the chance to speak about impactful advocacy and communications in research and public policy.

Alene Toulany

Today is for youth, with youth, and by youth. @CIHR_IHDCYH showing us "if you're going to talk the talk, you've got to walk the walk." #HealthyYouthSummit

Vivek Gill

Another energizing and grounding opening for Day 2 of the #HealthyYouthSummit from Elder Wanda Whitebird, inviting us to continue engaging in important discussions today and leave a "dusting of goodness" for communities we engage with through research.

Dr. Jean Buckler

Leaving the @CIHR_IHDCYH #HealthyYouthSummit full of radical optimism. Youth are truly our future and our future with them looks bright. In the words of Elder Wanda Whitebird "this is not a closing but a new beginning."

Sarah Munce

Hard to find a dry eye in the room listening to the incredible Clementine Jarrett speak about the life changing impact of #youthengagement #HealthyYouthSummit @CIHR_IHDCYH

Danni Renée

I've spent the last two days in Toronto at the Healthy Youth Summit hosted by @cihr_irsc. It was an enlightening experience that I took a lot away from.

Research has always felt like something locked behind education, science, and passion, held together by mental stability. As a person with ADHD, bipolar, and half of a BA, I've never considered doing research. I've admired people who've created impactful projects and movements for youth, but it wasn't for me.

In November, @huddlenorwest connected me with Dr. Woodgate about a project focusing on youth mental health. After many long conversations with her, I have realized I have countless questions about where my advocacy could be best directed. I just need the tools to seek out answers. And as I spoke to researchers about the impact of @huddlemanitoba on my life, I realized that many people are listening and eager to find those answers, and help us execute them.

Those things I thought were gatekeepers of research aren't the concrete barriers I visualized. It doesn't really matter that I started post secondary five years "late", or that I'm studying Inner City Studies instead of health. What matters is I'm passionate and curious and angry enough to build a future youth can appreciate.

I'm doing so many things, and I'm not sure how to link them. Despite this, I am sure of the fact that whatever I end up, it will be more substantial than I pictured the day I chose to make my life worth living.

Inlight – Student Mental Health Research at UofT

A powerful keynote from @larissa_speaks at the @CIHR_IHDCYH #HealthyYouthSummit, weaving together personal stories to highlight themes of systems thinking and redefining what "success" means in research and for community.

Alène Toulany

More from the amazing Clemetine Jarrett: "Youth engagement creates positive change within our beings... it's life changing, even lifesaving."

This is purpose.

This is what youth #advocacy feels like.

Helena Kirk

It was such an honour to be a speaker, panelist, and to even be an audience member, at CIHR's Healthy Youth Summit this weekend. It was so great to meet and learn from so many other accomplished young people, and to have amazing researchers and policy makers who were excited to hear from us and work with us.

The energy at this summit can be described really well by a term brought up in one of the panels; radically optimistic for the future!

Audience Questions

  • How would you define the difference between tokenism and collaboration?
  • What are some concrete first steps towards improving compensation for students and youth who are involved with research?
  • How can we find the right balance between amplifying youth voices and unfairly placing the burden of creating change on youth?
  • What kind of research is being done for the health of gender diverse youth?
  • How do we more consistently remove attitudinal and accessibility barriers to contributions by youth with mobility disabilities/visible conditions?
  • Where should researchers go to engage youth and promote opportunities to get involved in research?
  • How can we deal with the big jurisdictional and research barriers between health (federal) and K to 12 education (provincial/territorial)?
  • How can we best reach out to, and amplify + collaborate with youth in foster care?

Acknowledgments

IHDCYH Staff

  • Christine Chambers
  • Ruth Warre
  • Tonya Darlington
  • Joanne Wincentak
  • Brenda Coupar
  • Olivia Verge
  • Tracey Prentice
  • Lara Killian
  • Eleanor Friddell

IHDCYH Youth Advisory Council

  • Nifemi Adeoye
  • Malvina Chhina
  • Robert Chin-see
  • Ping Du Mont
  • Eleanor Duffley
  • Jolie Gan
  • Vivek Gill
  • Ash Kolstad
  • Midhula Madhu
  • Alexandria Martin
  • Sarah Mooney
  • Eki Okungbowa
  • Ahastan Surees
  • Annika Waschke

Learn more on the Summit Snapshot webpage!

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