Hello,

My name is Andrea McDougall and I'm a research coordinator for Dr. Roberta Woodgate at the University of Manitoba. Roberta and her team are currently conducting a research study titled Responsible Artificial Intelligence for Young People's Mental Health: A Co-Creation Approach to Public Health Education.

In Canada, mental health challenges affect an estimated 1.2 million young people, and AI-driven technologies and tools like chatbots are increasingly being explored as innovative solutions to support their mental health. Despite the increasing prevalence of AI tools, however, there is a significant gap in understanding how young people engage with these technologies in their daily lives and in their mental health journey. Our research study will help fill this gap as we are looking to hear from young people across Canada who use AI tools to support their mental health, about their experiences and thoughts on why they use them, how they use them, what works well and what does not, and what concerns they have about their use. Our goal is to co-develop public health educational resources to ensure that AI tools for youth mental health are relevant, accessible, and effective.

As part of the study, we want to involve youth that represent the diverse population of Canada. We feel it is extremely important to include all voices and experiences in the study. We are currently recruiting participants between the ages of 14 and 29 and are hoping your organization will be able to help us share this study so we can connect with young people who might be interested in sharing their experiences and knowledge with us.

Participants will be invited to take part in virtual interviews (individually and/or focus groups) and art-based activities to help share their ideas and experiences. They will receive a $35 gift card as an honorarium for each activity they choose to participate in. They would sign a consent form and fill out a demographic form prior to participating, and their privacy and confidentiality will be maintained and protected throughout the study.

I have attached a Letter of Invitation and recruitment poster to provide more information. We would appreciate if you would share these with your members and networks to help us connect with youth that might be interested in participating. Posting them on a bulletin board at your location, in a newsletter if you have one, on your social media, or simply emailing them out to anyone that might be interested in connecting with us would be great.

A link to our website is included below if you would like to learn more about us and the work we do. Please also feel free to reach out to me or Dr. Woodgate if you have any further questions.

Thank you - I look forward to hearing from you!

Andrea McDougall, MA (she/her)

Mixed-Methods Researcher and Analyst for Dr. Roberta L. Woodgate, IN●GAUGE

College of Nursing, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences

University of Manitoba

Winnipeg, MB, Canada R3T 2N2

204-272-1685 Andrea.Mcdougall@umanitoba.ca

https://www.ingauge.ca/

https://www.umanitoba.ca/nursing [cid:b1fcb463-6d6c-4145-b82b-9ff4c66b5378] [A picture containing text, clipart, vector graphics Description automatically generated]

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