The original nechakocares.org website was created in the mid-2010s as an initiative of Child and Youth Mental Health and Substance use Collaborative (CYMHSU) out of Vanderhoof, BC. The CYMHSU Collaborative structure as based upon the Collaborative Model for Achieving Breakthrough Improvement, pioneered by the US Institute for Healthcare Improvement. This model is used worldwide as a method of rapid continuous quality improvement in healthcare. The model brings Local Action Teams (LATs) together, who commit to identifying and improving areas of policy or practice during the process of collaboration. The teams then make small tests of change in quick succession in these areas and then share results with the larger groups at regular “Learning Sessions”.
The idea for the Collaborative was generated by the Interior Inter-divisional Strategic Council which represents seven divisions of family practice (representing more than 800 family physicians), Interior Health, the Ministry of Health, and the General Practice Services Committee. The Ministry of Children and Family Development (MCFD) identified the need for a CYMHSU system review and developed a strategic plan. Together these groups created a charter that outlines the Collaborative’s goals and objectives.
Fast forward to 2022, and although the LATs have dissolved, through support from the Northern Interior Rural Divisions of Family Practice (NIRD), Community Collaborative Tables (CCT) still meet regularly to discuss issues important to the community. In Fraser Lake, the CCT felt the community was lacking in resources related to mental health and substance use. The Fraser Lake CCT set out and surveyed high school students to get an understanding of where youth are at in their needs around learning about substance use and mental health supports. The findings triggered the CCT to re-vamp the still existing but outdated nechakocares.org website.
The Fraser Lake CCT team was delighted to launch this fresh and factual website during the summer of 2024. It is a living site. We are open to feedback and additions of resources that our users would like to share. Please reach out if you have feedback.
The top two groups that students feel most comfortable with to ask questions about alcohol and other drugs are a family member or a peer.