Emily Jenkins

Associate Professor

Research Interests

optimizing mental health and substance use outcomes
collaborative mental health promotion strategies
health services and policy development and redesign
knowledge translation approaches
healthy public policy development

Relevant Thesis-Based Degree Programs

Affiliations to Research Centres, Institutes & Clusters

 
 

Graduate Student Supervision

Doctoral Student Supervision

Dissertations completed in 2010 or later are listed below. Please note that there is a 6-12 month delay to add the latest dissertations.

Learning from experiences of peer support at an integrated youth service organization : a qualitative study (2023)

Mental health challenges are the leading cause of disability in youth worldwide. In Canada, mental health challenges affect one in five youth by age 24. When youth activate mental health services, they reduce their likelihood of experiencing problems later in life, yet less than 20% of youth with mental health challenges are accessing these services. This gap is largely attributed to a lack of comprehensive, well-designed health care services to meet the needs of this age group effectively. Canada’s mental health strategy identifies peer support as an essential component of mental health services. However, the majority of peer support research has focused on adult populations. Largely missing from the literature is an understanding of peer support in a youth mental health context. The purpose of this research was to learn from experiences of peer support at an integrated youth services (IYS) organization in British Columbia (BC), Canada. This study utilized interpretive description methodology and a research community partnership model. Data were collected from IYS centers across BC in urban, rural, and Northern settings. Qualitative, semi-structured interviews were conducted and analyzed to examine how peer support is experienced by: youth peer support workers (YPSWs), service providers, and youth recipients of peer support. Findings are presented within each group of participants. A discussion of similarities and differences across groups illustrates key priorities to advance youth peer support in a meaningful way. Four recommendations to guide IYS organizations in strengthening their youth peer support services are provided: 1) Standardize YPSW hiring and onboarding processes across the IYS network; 2) Establish senior peer support roles and regional peer support practice leads; 3) Implement an evidence-based model of supervision for YPSWs; and 4) Increase the availability and accessibility of YPSWs across BC. Strategies to achieve each recommendation are discussed. As the need for mental health services for youth continues to rise, developing and implementing recovery-oriented and evidence-based interventions is crucial. This study aimed to generate new knowledge to optimize and scale peer support at IYS organizations and to guide broader policies for mental health services offered to youth and by youth in BC, and beyond.

View record

Social and structural contexts of injectable opioid agonist treatment : a critical ethnographic study of people's experiences in Vancouver, BC (2023)

The full abstract for this thesis is available in the body of the thesis, and will be available when the embargo expires.

View record

Master's Student Supervision

Theses completed in 2010 or later are listed below. Please note that there is a 6-12 month delay to add the latest theses.

A strengths-based exploration of the lived experiences of sexual and/or gender minority women with past suicide attempts (2021)

No abstract available.

Ten-year trends in bullying, discrimination and suicidality among adolescents experiencing overweight and obesity in British Columbia (2021)

No abstract available.

I thought I had empathy& but now I believe it was pity: enhancing knowledge, empathy and harm reduction approaches among nurses working in concurrent disorder care (2020)

No abstract available.

Current Students & Alumni

This is a small sample of students and/or alumni that have been supervised by this researcher. It is not meant as a comprehensive list.
 

Membership Status

Member of G+PS
View explanation of statuses

Program Affiliations

Academic Unit(s)

 

If this is your researcher profile you can log in to the Faculty & Staff portal to update your details and provide recruitment preferences.

 
 

Follow these steps to apply to UBC Graduate School!