The Public Health Agency of Canada recently announced a $2.6 million grant supporting children’s mental health through a program designed by University of Victoria psychologist Dr. Bonnie Leadbeater, which teaches children conflict resolution strategies.
L’Agence de la santé publique du Canada a récemment annoncé une subvention de 2,6 millions de dollars pour la santé mentale des enfants par le biais d’un programme (WITS) développé par une psychologue de l’Université de Victoria : Dr. Bonnie Leadbeater. Elle enseigne aux enfants les stratégies de résolution de conflits.
The Public Health Agency of Canada has announced a $2.6 million grant supporting children’s mental health through research about and improved online access to the WITS program. WITS teaches children four simple conflict resolution strategies—Walk away – Ignore – Talk it out – Seek help—and was developed by UVic psychologist Dr. Bonnie Leadbeater.
The four-year grant will support online resources, lesson plans, training modules and resource guides for teachers across Canada. The funds will also go to further research in determining the effectiveness of the prevention program. Since 1998, the WITS programs have taught schools, families and communities four simple strategies that children can use to respond to peer victimization.
“We are very pleased to receive this funding,” says Leadbeater. “We want to ensure that schools and communities across Canada can access the WITS program to help prevent peer victimization, which also improves children’s mental health.”
The funding, announced by Federal Minister of Health Leona Aglukkaq, is part of a funding package for innovative, community-based projects to improve the mental health of Canadian children and families, with a focus on vulnerable populations.
For more information on WITS, please visit: www.witsprogram.ca