About See Us, Hear Us 1.0

COVID and all the changes it has caused have been hard for many children, youth, and families in Saskatchewan. With this study, we want to answer the questions: “How has COVID affected the mental health of children and youth in Saskatchewan during pandemic? What are their needs for mental health services?” We want to find out: 1) how common mental health problems like anxiety and depression are in children and youth in Saskatchewan; 2) how these conditions are affecting children and youth and how well they are able to cope; and 3) whether children, youth, and their families can get the help they need for their mental health and how satisfied they are with the services they’ve received since COVID began. 

The goal of this project is to provide useful data to enhance mental health services to children and youth, and support families in Saskatchewan. “The pandemic has caused enormous disruption in children’s lives,” explains Dr. Muhajarine. “We would like to know how our children and youth are faring in this pandemic, how they are coping, and whether they are getting the services and supports they need.

See Us, Hear Us: Children, youth, and families in Saskatchewan coping with mental health during the first year of COVID-19 pandemic includes three interrelated studies:

• SUHU 1.0 - Quantitative online/telephone survey of children/youth (8-18) and parent/caregiver dyads (completed--see results below)
  
• SUHU Qualitative - in-depth interviews with children/youth-parent/caregiver dyads who participated in the SUHU 1.0 survey
• NEW! SUHU 2.0 - Quantitative online/telephone survey of children/youth (8-18) and parent/caregiver dyads (Spring 2022)

If you have questions about the survey or our research project, please email seeus.hearus@usask.ca or contact:

Dr. Nazeem Muhajarine, Principal Investigator
Saskatchewan Population Health and Evaluation Research Unit (SPHERU)
Department of Community Health and Epidemiology, University of Saskatchewan
t: 306-966-7940  e: nazeem.muhajarine@usask.ca

 

Funders

SUHU 1.0 is funded by a Mental Heatlh Research Canada (MHRC)-Saskatchewan Health Research Foundation (SHRF) COVID-19 Child & Youth Mental Health Impact Grant. Funding Announcements: 

• SHRF: SK researchers to assess the impact of COVID-19 on kids and families with funding from SHRF and MHRC
• MHRC: SEE US, HEAR US — Tracking children, youth & families in Saskatchewan coping with mental health during the first year of COVID-19

 

     

 

SUHU Qualitative is funded by a Royal University Hospital Foundation Community Mental Health Endowment Grant.

 

 

Results from the SUHU 1.0 Qualitative Study

The second phase of the SUHU1.0 study consisted of collecting qualitative data to understand the pandemic’s effects on the lives of children, youth and families. We conducted in-depth interviews with 30 child-parent pairs (selected from our survey sample of 510 dyads). Parents and children were asked how the pandemic had affected their mental health, what had made it easier or harder for them to cope and seek mental health services in Saskatchewan during the pandemic. This report highlights findings from our qualitative interviews with children and youth (8-18 years) and their parents.

 

Results from the See Us, Hear Us 1.0 survey (SUHU 1.0), the project’s quantitative component.

The quantitative data were collected from 510 dyads of children and youth (8-18 years of age) and their parent/caregiver via an online survey conducted between March 19 and July 27, 20211. Participants were recruited via  Canadian Hub for Applied and Social Research (CHASR) Saskatchewan Community Panel and participating Saskatchewan public and Catholic school divisions, First Nations-administered schools, and independent schools. The survey was conducted in English and French; paper and telephone- and paper-based surveys were available upon request. Data analysis was conducted by researchers from the Saskatchewan Population Health and Evaluation Research Unit (SPHERU).

Special Issue: Taking the Pulse of COVID-19 in Saskatchewan—in 7 charts: Are the kids alright?

February 15, 2022 (Issue 9) - Preliminary results from See Us, Hear Us: Children, youth, and families in Saskatchewan coping with mental health during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic (SUHU 1.0). In this issue, we present key takeaways and descriptive results for child and youth respondents in three age groups: 8-11, 12-15, and 16-18 years old.

RESEARCH BRIEF 1: See Us, Hear Us 1.0--Mental health expeiriences of children, youth, and families in Saskatchewan during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic

April 7, 2022 - In this report, we present results from the SUHU 1.0 survey, the project’s quantitative component, measuring the prevalence of mental health of children, youth, and their families during the first year of the
COVID-19 pandemic in Saskatchewan, how they were coping, whether they were receiving the mental health support they need, and how satisfied they were with the services they have received since the COVID-19 pandemic.

RESEARCH BRIEF 2: See Us, Hear Us 1.0—Mental health impact of COVID-19 on children and youth in Saskatchewan: parent/caregiver and child perspectives

June 6, 2022: Often parents and caregivers act as proxies for children in surveys, especially when kids are not capable or competent enough to complete the survey by themselves, but children and their parents/caregivers may have different perspectives. The current study aimed to examine correspondence between parent/caregiver and their child in the assessment of change in child’s overall mental health and need for help in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic in Saskatchewan. Further, the study explored factors associated with agreement/disagreement between caregiver/parent’s and child’s reporting of change in child’s overall mental health and child’s help seeking behaviour.