Researchers from Ryerson University are working on a project to reduce stigma against boys and men with mental illness in the Asian communities. They have reached out to the Canadian Centre for Men and Families to find 1. participants and 2. recruiters who will help find additional participants. Recruiters need not be from Asian communities.

The first recruitment training workshop will take place at the Ryerson Library building on Thursday, December 18, 2014 from 1:00 – 4:00 PM. Lunch will be provided. Please RSVP to marwan.mohamedali@ryerson.ca or 416-979-5129 if you are interested in getting involved with this research. Indicate that you are following up on a posting from the Canadian Centre for Men and Families.

Full information on the research project – Strength in Unity – follows below.

Strength in Unity 

The aim of Strength in Unity project is to engage boys, adult men, and older men to reduce stigma of mental illness in Asian communities in Calgary, Toronto, and Vancouver. In particular, we will be working with individuals living with or affected by mental illness, and community leaders from various sectors in piloting and evaluating two anti-stigma interventions. Our interventions are aimed at the intrapersonal level and focuses on internalized stigma and with interpersonal levels to facilitate knowledge building about mental health/illness and stigma reduction, and skill development in evidence-uptake to advance practice and policy change.

We aim to recruit 800 -1000 bilingual (English + Asian Languages) boys and men (aged 17 years and above) in Toronto. This includes people living with mental illness, those who have family members living with mental illness and Community Leaders. They will be randomly allocated to attend different training or a control session in a small group. The participants will be followed up from time to time up to 9 months.

If you self-identify as:

• A male who is 17 years or older?
• From the Asian communities (South Asian, East Asian, South-East Asian) in Toronto, Peel or York Region?
• Belonging to one of these groups:o   Living with mental illness? ORo   Someone you dearly care about is living with a mental illness? ORo   A community member interested in becoming an ambassador to address stigma of mental illness?
• Able to comfortably converse in English, and available to attend training & information sessions?

WE NEED YOUR KNOWLEDGE, COMPASSION, & COMMITMENT!

We would like to learn more about your views on stigma and how stigma can be effectively reduced. Our goal is to equip you with the education and effective tools to reduce stigma at personal or community level through interactive learning. We will ensure:

• Participation in this study is totally voluntary. You may withdraw at any time.
• Information you share will be kept private and confidential.
• You do not need to provide your real name.
• You will receive an honorarium each time you take part in training and research session.

Honorarium and participation:

• We are looking to recruit and train recruiters, who will in turn identify and connect the staff team with the potential participants. Compensation for each successful recruitment will be $ 15 per completed recruitment.
• The honorarium for time and travel for each participant would be $55 per session. Participants will be provided light meal during the session. Each participant will attend 2-4 sessions. Some may attend up to 8 sessions

We look forward to your response and your involvement in the project.