Research Areas

The Health Care Access Research and Developmental Disabilities (H-CARDD) Program was developed to address disparities in health status and health care access faced by individuals with developmental disabilities. These individuals often have complex health care needs, and experience difficulty in accessing health care services, sometimes with health care providers who have gaps in their knowledge of how to support them. The overall goal of the H-CARDD Program is to monitor and improve the health and health care of people with developmental disabilities through engagement with researchers, policy makers, health care planners, clinicians, adults with developmental disabilities, and caregivers. For more information, contact hcardd@camh.ca. To stay updated on our programs, you can sign up for the H-CARDD newsletter here. 

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This research is exploring the accessibility of virtual primary care for patients (Easy Read) with intellectual and developmental disabilities during the pandemic and in the recovery period. Results thus far suggest that a flexible, patient-centred system is needed to ensure all patients have consistent, uninterrupted access to primary care. Implementing this system will require improved virtual care platforms, access to technology for patients and caregivers, training for primary care providers, and appropriately aligned primary care funding models. For more information, contact avra.selick@camh.ca.

Acceptance and Commitment Training or ACT (pronounced as a word), is an evidence-based psychological intervention. ACT has been adopted with many populations, including caregivers of people with neurodevelopmental disabilities. We think it is important that caregivers can participate in something practical and meaningful to their daily lives and that clinicians and families working together are best positioned to facilitate this work. Team members have co-designed, and are evaluating, in-person and virtual formats of this intervention across Canada. For more information about this research, visit the ACT for Caregivers website or contact actforcaregivers@gmail.com.

Together with family caregivers, scientists have co-created and are evaluating a six-week, virtual, peer-based series of “coffee chats” facilitated by family caregivers for family caregivers. These guided discussions offer an empowering space where caregivers can reflect together on themes of importance to them. For more information about this project, contact hcardd@camh.ca.

Mindfulness training is associated with reductions in stress and depression, and with improvements in overall health. This is one reason why there is such an interest in teaching mindfulness to caregivers, who deal with significant, ongoing life stress. Our team has adapted mindfulness-based group interventions for family caregivers and has evaluated in-person and virtual delivery. Ongoing delivery of caregiver mindfulness is made possible through the Canadian Centre for Caregiving Excellence. Contact sue.hutton@camh.ca for more information about mindfulness programs at our centre. 

Since the onset of COVID-19, our centre has been actively involved in identifying health and health care challenges for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities, and working in partnership to develop innovative solutions to address health care gaps during the pandemic. Our national program included virtual psychoeducation projects aimed at building the capacity of family caregivers in supporting adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. For more information, see our full project or plain-language summary. Contact tiziana.volpe@camh.ca for additional details.

This program aims to better understand the mental health of direct service providers who support people with neurodevelopmental disabilities, and innovative practices to promote their mental health. (See our reports on mental health of staff) Innovations include mindfulness and acceptance-based interventions for providers, delivered in-person and virtually. For more information about the mental health of providers, contact DSStaff.study@camh.ca. For information on research evaluating workshops using principles from Acceptance and Commitment Training, contact pact@camh.ca. 

As part of the broader CAMH ECHO Program, Azrieli Centre scientists and advisors are involved in offering provincial and national telementoring programs to address the mental health needs of adults with neurodevelopmental disabilities. For more information on ECHO AIDD, contact ECHO_OntarioAIDD@camh.ca.

Azrieli scientists are involved in research to understand and address the mental health of autistic adults. Innovative approaches include peer support, mindfulness and acceptance-based therapies and pharmacological interventions. For more information about our programs on autism and mental health, visit this page or contact hcardd@camh.ca.

Through an initiative led by Brock University and Shkaabe Makwa at CAMH, our centre is involved in an important collaboration bringing together Indigenous community members — including those with lived experience of neurodevelopmental disabilities and mental health concerns — researchers, and clinicians to share knowledge and foster connections. For more information, contact kendra.thomson@camh.ca.

Azrieli Centre scientists, clinicians and advisors have been exploring ways to educate people with intellectual and developmental disabilities across the country virtually during the pandemic. To learn more about these CIHR-funded projects, you can read the project summary here or a plain-language version, or contact tiziana.volpe@camh.ca.

This womenmind-funded program with and for autistic women is working to co-design and evaluate a virtual peer-led support program for newly diagnosed autistic women. Working closely with peer facilitators, the program aims to foster positive autistic identities, a sense of connectedness and self-advocacy. The program will be pilot-tested, revised and evaluated for acceptability and effectiveness. The long-term goal is to improve the mental health and well-being of autistic women, who are often diagnosed later in life, by strengthening their supports and connections. For more information, contact hcardd@camh.ca.