The Caring Campus Project

Male freshmen are particularly vulnerable to substance misuse linked to mental ill health during their first year at university. Research shows they experience more stressors during their transition from family life to independence, and are more likely to use substances to relieve stress, anxiety, or depression. This may place them at higher risk for mental health problems, mental illnesses, suicide, and substance abuse disorders.

Researchers at Queen’s University—Heather Stuart, Shu-Ping Chen, and Terry Krupa —were recently awarded more than 1.7 million dollars by Movember Canada, to mount a mental wellness program targeting first year freshmen. The goals are to reduce risks associated with mental ill health and substance misuse and create a more supportive campus environment for male freshmen. The program will be piloted at Queen’s University, then expand to University of Calgary (Keith Dobson) and Dalhousie University (Michael Teehan and Sherry Stewart). The project is funded by Movember Canada.

The program will help students learn about mental wellness and safe substance use patterns; will correct misperceptions about substance use norms; and promote student – driven and led activities to raise awareness of the importance of early identification and intervention. Opportunities for active engagement and dialogue will be a central component.

If you would like more information about this project, please contact Tiina Liinamaa, Project Coordinator at liinamaa@queensu.ca or movember@queensu.ca

Team Members

The core project team at Queen’s consists of the PIs – Drs. Chen, Stuart and Krupa. The staff include Project Coordinator Tiina Liinamaa and Research Assistant Josh Decaire. We also have collaborative assistance and support from the rector Mike Young, Kathryn Humphrys and Joanne Roston.

The project team at the University of Calgary consists of Co-PI Dr. Keith Dobson, Research Assistant Laura Henderson, and PhD. Student Liza Mastikhina.

The Dalhousie University research team is made up of Co-PIs Drs. Michael Teehan and Sherry Stewart, Dr. Kara Thompson, Research Assistants Jennifer Swansburg and Parnell Davis-MacNevin, and Graduate Student Annie Chinneck.

Team Leaders

It was an intensive process to recruit and hire people from our the many resumes we received. We are pleased to announce our final list of 24 superb applicants for our Queen’s University team of Student Leaders. Both the University of Calgary and Dalhousie University will be hiring Student Leaders later in the project.

Free Stickers

We are giving away free caring stickers, if you want a free sticker please email us at liinamaa@queensu.ca with your address and in title please put free stickers. We are working with Free Stuff Spot which is a free sample site based in Canada.