CICMH 2018 Call for Abstracts

The Centre for Innovation in Campus Mental Health’s Annual Conference is the meeting place for stakeholders in post-secondary mental health across Ontario and Canada. This annual event attracts over 200 participants, 20 exhibitors, and leaders in mental health from across the country. It offers over a dozen workshops featuring the best, promising and emerging practices in the sector.

This year’s theme, Bold Ideas, will focus on innovative designs and solutions to the challenges in addressing mental health needs on campus. We have reached a point where a paradigm shift in thinking is needed to match the rising tide.

Bold Ideas in Campus Mental Health

Campuses are the sites of a wide range of mental health challenges, from relatively minor symptoms up to anorexia and bipolar disorder. A mentally healthy campus would be characterized by students talking openly about their problems. At such a campus, everyone in the institution takes ownership of student success. Student affairs administrators, faculty, resident directors, and counsellors are often on the front lines with distressed students, and they - along with many other campus constituencies - are searching for ways to best serve students' individual needs and those of the student body as a whole.

To facilitate this discussion, we look at five streams.

1. Substance use and other addictions
2. Mental health strategies
3. Mental health programming
4. Equity and inclusion
5. Evidence-based interventions

Substance use and addictions
Presentations in this stream will focus on the use of drugs, alcohol and other addictions (gambling, gaming) on campus. Example topics might include the changing cannabis landscape, as well as other critical issues such as binge drinking on campuses and driving under the influence of alcohol.

Mental health strategies
The creation of successful campus mental health strategies can occur only through informed policies, targeted mental health promotions, and integrated care for students struggling with mental health challenges. Presentations in this stream will focus on the development, implementation and evaluation of campus mental health strategies.

Mental health programming
Presentations in this stream will highlight any innovative mental health programs on campus or off-campus for post-secondary students. Examples might include health promotion programs, peer supports and resilience-based programs.

Equity
Institutional leadership and campus models for diversity and equity that simultaneously advance underserved students’ educational access and success and promote the flourishing of institutions have a big impact on mental health. Presentations in this stream will address barriers based in discrimination and (propose) new opportunities related to demographic change, (as well as) sharing practices and programs that pursue established ideals about equity.

Evidence-based interventions
Evidence-based interventions are practices or programs that have peer-reviewed, documented empirical evidence of effectiveness. These presentations will focus on therapies and interventions (clinical or otherwise) that are efficacious. Examples might include research findings from campus programs that incorporate dialectical behaviour therapy, mindfulness based cognitive therapy and emotion focused therapy.

Submissions should provide a brief explanation of the presentation in 150 words or less.
Presentations will be mostly in English, but we welcome and encourage French submissions.

Abstracts will be accepted until May 1, 2018.

Presenters will be notified if their abstracts have been accepted by July 1st, 2018.

The conference registration fee for presenters will be waived. Honoraria, accommodation and travel reimbursement are not available for presenters.

Conference sessions will be offered in a variety of formats

- Panel discussions
- Panel presentations
- Solo presentations (60-75 minutes)

A 60-minute presentation (30-minute presentation plus 30 minutes for discussion) will seek feedback from the audience and generate discussion to enhance a paper or other innovative ideas in progress. This can be a platform to showcase programs, strategies, research, or interventions that have been successful on a particular campus. These are grounded in and informed by the literature or emerging research and are designed to stimulate new thinking, dialogue and active engagement from participants.

A 75-minute presentation (60-minute presentation plus 15 minutes for questions) will provide a platform for presenters to share expertise, and for participants to gain new knowledge and/or skill. The presentation will be interactive and address new programming and/or completed research that have been demonstrated to have an impact on system design or policy development related to campus mental health strategies. This allows for in-depth discussion and interaction related to any of the five conference streams.

The Program Advisory Committee may also identify submissions for keynote plenary sessions.

Presentations may be submitted for consideration for a 60-minute or a 75-minute session. It is recommended that time be allocated for a question and answer period with attendees.

Poster Presentations
There will be a Display space for Poster Presentations. a table will be provided. Please prepare your presentation on a poster board to sit on the table. You are welcome to bring additional flyers/support documentation for handouts. Again, we welcome French poster presentations.