Planet Youth New Brunswick: Let’s fight youth substance use together

Bouctouche, February 15, 2024 – Vitalité Health Network and the Kent Regional Services Commission, in collaboration with the local Planet Youth Kent coalition and their partners, celebrate the launch of the Planet Youth pilot project in the Kent region. This community collaboration project aims to adapt the icelandic prevention model, which has proven effective in reducing substance use among youth for over 20 years.

Objective: influence the social environment of young people to encourage healthy behaviours.

The local Planet Youth Kent coalition includes stakeholders from public health, mental health, local governance (RSC), justice and public safety as well as community partners from the education sector and representatives from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, groupe piROUetTE at the École Mgr-Marcel-François-Richard (Centraide), and the Family Resource Centre.

Our guest speakers and the local Planet Youth Kent coalition members

This prevention model focuses on building a positive environment around youth to mitigate risk factors such as social isolation or stress and to strengthen protective factors by fostering access to family, school and extra-curricular activities, for example, which promote well-being. In some countries that have adopted this model, this has primarily taken the form of events designed to make leisure activities accessible to all youth or of opportunities for parents and care providers to build connections.

In February 2023, a survey of 187 Grade 10 students was conducted in three schools in the Kent region to evaluate their well-being and lifestyle habits. Several observations emerged:

• Only 27% of the girls surveyed said that their mental health was good or very good;
• Overall, 22% of the youth surveyed said that they vape every day;
• On average, 25% of the youth surveyed said they had been drunk within the past 30 days;
• Overall, 48% of the youth surveyed said they spent an average of three or more hours per day on social media.

The next step will consist of implementing the activities in the local coalition’s action plan to create projects by and for youth. The local coalition will also work in collaboration with Planet Youth, an Icelandic research consultancy, which will make recommendations.

This pilot project is one of the commitments made as part of the Provincial Health Plan entitled Stabilizing Health Care: An Urgent Call to Action.

The provincial government has committed to investing $255,000 per year for the duration of this five-year project. Four pilot sites have been selected, namely Saint John, Woodstock, Kent County and the Acadian Peninsula. A website has been created, Planet Youth (gnb.ca), with information on the New Brunswick pilot project.

“We are pleased to see communities coming together to implement the Planet Youth New Brunswick pilot project, which aims to help youth become more resilient and achieve their full potential. This project is a long-term investment in the next generation and holds the promise of a healthier future for them,” explained Sherry Wilson, Minister responsible for Addictions and Mental Health Services. 

In 2017, the costs attributable to substance use in New Brunswick totalled more than $1 billion in the health care, social service, and justice systems according to the Canadian Substance Use Costs and Harms Working Group (2020).

From left to right: Jean-François LeBlanc, Community Program Officer (RCMP); Nancy Bastarache, Regional Director of Public Health; Carole Gallant, Regional Director of Addiction and Mental Health Services for Children and Youth; Dr. Yves Léger, Acting Chief Medical Officer of Health; the Honourable Sherry Wilson, Minister responsible for Addictions and Mental Health Services; Rino Lang, Assistant Vice-President – Professional Services; Paul Lang,, CEO, Kent Regional Service Commission; Chanelle DaPonte, Regional Resiliency Coordinator, Public Health, Vitalité Health Network; and Stephanie Caissie, Social Inclusion and Community Development Coordinator, Kent Regional Service Commission