The Gateway Centre of Excellence in Rural Health has hired three research students for the summer to study addiction and mental health problems in young people in Grey, Bruce, Huron and Perth counties.
Melissa Roetcisoender from the Benmiller area recently completed her Bachelor of Arts in Social Development Studies from the University of Waterloo. She says their first challenge will be to conduct an environmental assessment of what services exist in the area, and what they're currently doing.
She notes it's very early in the process, but one thing they've noticed is there are several agencies or organizations working independently, and she wants to look at potential opportunities for some of them to work together.
Roetcisoender says there's very little research or statistical information about what's going on in the area now, so compiling that information will be a good first step.
She adds one thing that is more common now is that most people who are abusing drugs are also abusing alcohol, which makes it much more difficult to get effective treatment.
Melissa Roetcisoender, Gateway Research Co-ordinator (photo supplied)