What is Planet Youth Mississauga?
Planet Youth Mississauga is a pilot process, inspired by the amazing work in Iceland where youth substance use rates went from some of the worst in Europe to some of the best.
With the leadership of the Public Health Agency of Canada, the Knowledge Development Exchange Hub based in Waterloo, and Planet Youth (Iceland), communities in Mississauga are trying to replicate the same gains in population health that Iceland has seen, especially for children and youth in Cooksville, Erin Mills and Meadowvale.
Our goal is to increase protective factors (things that make young people resilient and healthier) and reduce and delay use of substances.
Communities Working Together
In Mississauga, Community Action Teams are working in each of three pilot communities: Cooksville, Erin Mills and Meadowvale. These three communities are where the pilot's co-leads already have strong relationships.
School communities, settlement agencies, mental health supports, youth, researchers, parents/guardians, government services and others are uniting to understand pressures on young people.
It may be a need to fit in, compete for opportunities, live in safer environments, or greater access to mental health support. We won't know until we ask.
Real-Time Information
Planet Youth in many communities worldwide is using a standardized survey to find out what protective factors youth enjoy. It also asks which substances they use.
Individual young people complete the survey anonymously and voluntarily.
Their answers together create a view of the community's assets and gaps. Reports are available within weeks of data collection. By looking clearly at the facts, our communities can start solving problems where they begin.
What is the Icelandic Prevention Model (The IPM)?
It's a systematized way to build sustainable community co-operation, use data collection and focus on upstream prevention that gives communities a quick reading of what is helping and hindering young people NOW.
This Planet Youth video explains how the Icelandic Prevention Model works.
What is Upstream Prevention?
Our lives are impacted by what's around us: our physical environment, rules, access to education and health and so on. Long-term and sustainable attention to root causes of problems is upstream prevention.
This video from KDE Hub provides an overview on the concept of Upstream Prevention
Working with Researchers
Renowned researcher Dr. Alfgeir Kristjansson spoke to our community members about the Icelandic Prevention Model. He explains how the Model has proven effective across the globe, and why upstream prevention is so important.
FAQs about Planet Youth
This information was collated by the Collaborative for Ontario Youth Substance Use Prevention (COYSUP) to promote the Icelandic Prevention Model in the province.
What is Planet Youth?
A: Planet Youth was developed from the Icelandic Prevention Model (IPM) – an evidence-based primary prevention approach with demonstrated effectiveness in reducing substance use in Iceland for over 20 years.
- Planet Youth is an analytics and consultancy organization that runs a guidance program to help communities around the world implement the IPM and build healthy environments for positive youth development. (The Method: https://planetyouth.org/the-method/).
- The Planet Youth process relies on the collaboration of many partners. It enables those who can impact the lives of youth – parents, educators, recreation leaders and more – to work together to create a supportive and caring environment. Building a strong community around youth is the healthiest and most cost-effective way to promote their well-being in the future.
- In 2023 the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) launched the Youth Substance Use Prevention Program (YSUPP) a national initiative that seeks to prevent substance use and promote wellness by supporting the implementation of the IPM within a Canadian context.
What makes the Planet Youth model different than our existing substance prevention activities?
A: The Planet Youth model requires a shift in thinking. It requires going from an individual perspective to a collective perspective, and from short-term goal setting to long-term goal setting.
- This model views society as the patient and focuses on enhancing the environments that surround youth, rather than focusing on individual decision-making.
- Planet Youth is not a project, but rather a comprehensive approach where communities use local data to identify priorities and establish long-term, community-driven strategies to increase protective factors and reduce risk factors that will help to prevent and delay substance use.
- Most data collection tools in Ontario and Canada do not provide timely reporting with our current data lag time of 2 years or more. This model expedites the reporting process and the analyses of risk and protective factors within 6-8 weeks to highlight key areas for focus and solution building.
- A local coalition of diverse community partners oversees the process and implements prevention strategies to address priorities identified through the data collected. Neighbouring communities may each have their own coalition but sign a joint project agreement with Planet Youth (includes consultation, management of contract, data collection processes, etc.) and apply together for one funding envelope.
- The focus for Planet Youth is primordial/primary prevention, which means altering the environment to stop a behaviour from ever happening. This is different from secondary prevention (preventing further harm as youth start experimenting with substances) and tertiary prevention (helping youth not fall back into a cycle of misuse).
Is Planet Youth different or complementary to Youth Wellness Hubs Ontario?
A: Complementary. This model is focused on preventing problems before they ever arise; Youth wellness hubs are addressing a gap in treatment that helps youth access services for existing problems.
- "Youth Wellness Hubs Ontario (YWHO) is an Integrated Youth Services (IYS) initiative designed to address the service gaps in the youth mental health and substance use sectors in Ontario” (Youth Wellness Hubs Ontario). This initiative delivers tailored programs co-developed by youth to support individual needs. Youth Wellness Hubs are designed as a service model aimed at attracting and offering effective care and treatment to young people, including walk-in access to primary health care, peer support, employment services, etc. These are welcome services to support secondary and tertiary prevention of youth substance use.
- Planet Youth is a multi-level approach with the core principle that “prevention activities should engage the whole population of young people rather than targeting particular individuals or groups.” To reduce the need for access to services and treatment. (PlanetYouth.org)
- Planet Youth coalitions are groups of local partners from private and public organizations (i.e., faith-based groups, police, service clubs, youth centres) that come together to engage in community engagement, data collection at local schools, priority setting, funding identification, and information sharing of the reports. Youth Wellness Hub teams would be an example of a key partner to have within these coalitions that will benefit from the data reports and community collective action by aligning programs and activities.
- It is important to offer interventions that target all levels of prevention for a comprehensive strategy to reduce substance use among youth. Further, Youth Wellness Hubs are well positioned to work synergistically with local communities in the Icelandic Prevention Model’s implementation steps 7-9: goal setting, policy and practice alignment, and prevention interventions.
Why invest in Upstream Prevention?
A: We are never going to treat our way out of this mental health and substance use crisis. We must realign our budgets to incorporate prevention and harm reduction.
- The costs incurred from substance use in Ontario and Canada are not sustainable. In 2020, the estimated overall cost of substance use in Ontario was more than $18 Billion! This amounts to $1,234 per person regardless of age. The costs include healthcare, lost productivity, criminal justice, and other direct costs. Investing in prevention is cost-effective and saves on treatment and other societal costs in the long run.
- In Iceland, the focus on primary prevention has led to the need for addiction treatment among 20-year-old males being reduced by more than half, resulting in significant downstream healthcare savings. (Planet Youth – Ottawa Conference)
- Benjamin Franklin’s quote of “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” highlights the wisdom of planning and investing ahead to avoid problems. For every dollar invested in evidence-based prevention, between $10-18 is saved in substance use-related societal costs.
- In alignment with Ontario’s Roadmap to Wellness, support from all levels of government and community actors invested in the wellbeing of youth and healthy communities is required.
We are not Iceland, why do we need people from Iceland telling us what to do?
A: We don’t adopt this model we adapt it for our local communities. Ontario communities are working together to align and support each other in adapting this model. The growth of this work is getting stronger and with your support it can be more impactful.
- No one from Iceland or anywhere else outside our communities is telling us what to do. The pioneers in Iceland have simply devised an effective survey, rapid data processing method, and step-by-step pathway to engage our communities to develop healthier futures.
- The process of adapting and implementing this model is a long-term commitment as the results may not be immediate. Sustainable success requires a paradigm shift in how we prioritize and allocate funding and resources that needs to be considered at a local, Provincial and Federal level.
- Communities across Canada are embracing this model with support from the Public Health Agency of Canada (What is YSUPP? - KDE Hub).
Planet Youth Mississauga is one of several Stream 2 pilots for Planet Youth in Canada. Funded by the Public Health Agency of Canada, co-Leads, The Dam and Erin Mills Connects, are moving the process forward.
In addition to the existing Erin Mills Connects community collaborative, we are also working with community collaboratives in Cooksville and Meadowvale.
If you have any questions or wish to join the work of Planet Youth Mississauga, feel free to contact Catharine Chamberlain at catharine@planetyouth-mississauga.ca. Your invitation to join this exciting process is HERE. For a quick introduction, watch the video above.
