Before and after conception . . . Engaging parents of today and parents of tomorrow

This paper describes a unique relationship and engagement of a leading NGO Family Organization (The FORCE); a highly respected and extensively distributed magazine directed towards parents (Today's Parent) and an academic institution (The Sun Life Financial Chair in Adolescent Mental Health: Dalhousie University and the IWK Health Center in a project that was able to take the national pulse of parent perspectives on child and youth mental health.

A survey was co-created by parents, academia and media and went live in June 2009 on the Today's Parent website. Such a survey had not been done before.

The national survey resulted in a response from almost 4,500 parents. Some of the preliminary findings included: parents do think about mental health concerns of children, including parents of children who don't have any problems and it is often media coverage often prompts parents to think about these issues. One quarter of the respondents were not aware of mental health programs and services for children and youth in their community. Many families waited for more than a year to obtain services. The respondents believed that schools should become more active in addressing mental health needs for children and youth.

Partnerships involving parent organizations, media and academia have the potential to collaboratively develop processes and methods that can provide a unique window on how to understand various aspects of child and youth mental health. Such partnerships should be considered for future research and information gathering activities.