Study Title: Perceptions and attitudes of children and youth with lived/living experience of mental health conditions and caregivers towards the use of genetic testing in mental health care
Finding psychiatric medicines that work for a child or youth is clinically challenging and can take months to years, leading to non-adherence and treatment failure. We need more prescribing strategies that can support current treatment plans and help children/youth better manage psychiatric disorders with medicine. There is growing evidence that pharmacogenetic testing, a specific type of genetic testing, can be used to personalize medication treatments based on a person’s ability to process and react to drugs.
Genomic medicine and direct-to-consumer genetic tests are becoming more common than ever before. As a result, people are now more knowledgeable and forming strong views about these tests. However, we don’t know as much about what Canadian youth with lived/living experience of mental health conditions or parents caring for youth with lived/living experience of mental health conditions think about pharmacogenetic tests. The POP-R project is designed to address this knowledge gap by exploring the perspectives of youth and parents in using genetic testing to guide mental health medications to support a more individualized approach to mental health care.
Research Aims:
1. To investigate perceptions and attitudes of children and youth aged 12 to 24 years with lived/living experience of mental health conditions towards the use of genetic testing to guide treatment for mental disorders.
2. To investigate perceptions and attitudes of parents or caregivers of children and youth aged 12 – 24 years with lived/living experience of mental health conditions towards the use of genetic testing to guide treatment for mental disorders for the affected children and youth.
Finding psychiatric medicines that work for a child or youth is clinically challenging and can take months to years, leading to non-adherence and treatment failure. We need more prescribing strategies that can support current treatment plans and help children/youth better manage psychiatric disorders with medicine. There is growing evidence that pharmacogenetic testing, a specific type of genetic testing, can be used to personalize medication treatments based on a person’s ability to process and react to drugs.
Genomic medicine and direct-to-consumer genetic tests are becoming more common than ever before. As a result, people are now more knowledgeable and forming strong views about these tests. However, we don’t know as much about what Canadian youth with lived/living experience of mental health conditions or parents caring for youth with lived/living experience of mental health conditions think about pharmacogenetic tests. The POP-R project is designed to address this knowledge gap by exploring the perspectives of youth and parents in using genetic testing to guide mental health medications to support a more individualized approach to mental health care.
Research Aims:
1. To investigate perceptions and attitudes of children and youth aged 12 to 24 years with lived/living experience of mental health conditions towards the use of genetic testing to guide treatment for mental disorders.
2. To investigate perceptions and attitudes of parents or caregivers of children and youth aged 12 – 24 years with lived/living experience of mental health conditions towards the use of genetic testing to guide treatment for mental disorders for the affected children and youth.
Team:
Principal Investigator:
Abdullah Al Maruf, PhD, M.Pharm (University of Manitoba)
Graduate Student Lead:
Rizwan Ahmed, MSc Student (University of Manitoba)
Collaborators:
Anna Chudyk, PhD, MSc (University of Manitoba)
Sasha Kullman, PhD Student (University of Manitoba)
Laurence Katz, MD, FRCPC (University of Manitoba)
Cara Katz, MD, FRCPC (University of Manitoba)
Brianna Hunt, MA (CHRIM)
Research Assistant:
Mahin Hasan, PhD Student (University of Manitoba)
Abdullah Al Maruf, PhD, M.Pharm (University of Manitoba)
Graduate Student Lead:
Rizwan Ahmed, MSc Student (University of Manitoba)
Collaborators:
Anna Chudyk, PhD, MSc (University of Manitoba)
Sasha Kullman, PhD Student (University of Manitoba)
Laurence Katz, MD, FRCPC (University of Manitoba)
Cara Katz, MD, FRCPC (University of Manitoba)
Brianna Hunt, MA (CHRIM)
Research Assistant:
Mahin Hasan, PhD Student (University of Manitoba)
Recruitment materials are prepared by Grace.
