Dana Dmytro

Being a Public Scholar is a privilege and responsibility to ensure my work serves the public good by advancing solutions to address a real-world issue that affects us all. As a Public Scholar, I engage the public by raising awareness, seeking input and sharing academic and scientific knowledge with communities in ways that are accessible, engaging and relevant to everyday life.

Public Scholars Initiative
Faculty
Faculty of Education
Program
Doctor of Philosophy in School and Applied Child Psychology (PhD)
Research supervisor(s)
Emily Jenkins
Laurie Ford
Home Town
Medicine Hat
Country
Canada
Selected Award(s)
UBC Public Scholars Award

Research description

Since 2016, over 52,544 Canadians have died due to toxic drugs, and drug-related deaths (i.e., overdose) are now a leading cause of mortality for youth across Canada. The need for improved strategies to build students’ resilience and reduce substance use related risks and harms has never been more urgent. School-based strategies hold promise for far-reaching impact, yet programming gaps and system inequities persist. While universally delivered, (Tier 1) school and class wide strategies are typically sufficient for most students, targeted (Tier 2) small-group interventions and intensive (Tier 3) individualized interventions hold promise for students who are most at risk. Concerningly, little is known about which Tier 2 and 3 substance-use harm prevention interventions are being delivered in Canadian schools and by whom, and which factors support or impede these efforts. Given the magnitude of this issue and current knowledge and system gaps, the aim of my study is to better understand the landscape of school-based intervention in Canadian middle and secondary schools that can reduce substance use related harms. The objectives including exploring specialized school staff’s perspectives, experiences and perceived needs in delivering these types of Tier 2 and 3 interventions and to identify the multi-level contextual factors (i.e., personal, organizational, systemic) that influence their provision of these interventions. This study is nested within a broader pan-Canadian initiative, Transforming Substance Use Harm Prevention in Schools, led by Wellstream: The Canadian Centre for Innovation in Child and Youth Mental Health and Substance Use and conducted in partnership with the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction. Semi-structured interviews will be conducted with school counsellors, inclusive education teachers, educational assistants, youth care workers, Indigenous support workers and school psychologists. Study findings will generate new, actionable knowledge to support the healthy development of youth in Canada, while also deepening our understanding of educators’ needs to inform targeted supports that can reduce educator burden and enhance school-based substance use harm prevention through systems change.

What does being a Public Scholar mean?

Being a Public Scholar is a privilege and responsibility to ensure my work serves the public good by advancing solutions to address a real-world issue that affects us all. As a Public Scholar, I engage the public by raising awareness, seeking input and sharing academic and scientific knowledge with communities in ways that are accessible, engaging and relevant to everyday life.

In what ways do you think the PhD experience can be re-imagined with this Initiative?

The Public Scholars Initiative facilitates the translation of scientific and academic knowledge for real-world accessibility and use. Through innovative and flexible forms of scholarship, Public Scholars envision their research as directly impacting individuals, families and communities in ways that improve the standards and qualities of life.

How do you envision connecting your PhD work with broader career possibilities?

My doctoral program will prepare me to become a registered psychologist with scholarly and research expertise in substance use harm prevention and intervention. Being a Public Scholar supports me to strengthen my professional networks, build my expertise and enhance my community engagement skills as a public educator and knowledge mobilizer. I aim to continue my work in partnership with researchers, policy makers, school districts and school-based staff to support school systems, students and families across Canada.

How does your research engage with the larger community and social partners?

My research engages specialized school-based staff in middle and high schools across Canada in a dialogue to co-generate school-based solutions to shift substance use harm trajectories. Through public presentations and social media engagement, my work also contributes to public discourse about the role of school-based policy makers and the education system in shifting substance use harm trajectories for Canadian youth. Most importantly, my work will engage school-based professionals to gather knowledge-user expertise, support network building and facilitate the co-creation of strategies to strengthen system-level supports.

Why did you decide to pursue a graduate degree?

Over eight years working in public schools as a school psychologist and my lived experience of losing loved ones to substance use-related harms inspired me to pursue doctoral studies, so that I could develop further expertise that could be used for policy and practice changes that could reduce substance use related harms.

Why did you choose to come to British Columbia and study at UBC?

The School and Applied Child Psychology program at UBC is accredited by the Canadian Psychological Association and provides a wide range of experiences that will well-prepare me for my career as a practioner-researcher. Furthermore, doctoral studies at UBC has provided me a unique opportunity to engage in research that spans the education and health sectors as a trainee within Wellstream: The Canadian Centre for Innovation in Child and Youth Mental Health and Substance Use which aims to support K-12 Canadian schools with substance use education and intervention.