About - Capable - From the head, to the heart - CRISE

CRISE is an interdisciplinary research centre at the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM). The research centre collaborates with practitioners, organizations and program planners to promote suicide prevention research. They also facilitate the transfer and application of knowledge to improve suicide prevention and reduce its negative impact.

CRISE is also devoted to the development and evaluation of mental health promotion activities and programs for children, including Passport: Skills for Life and Zippy's Friends.

CRISE brings together more than fifty researchers, stakeholders and students across seven universities and twenty-four research centres in Quebec. Visit the CRISE website to learn more.

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Mission

Promote a positive mental health culture aimed at elementary school children to foster their ability to bounce back and participate fully in life and society.

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Vision

All elementary school children will have a broader range of positive coping strategies to better overcome their challenges and flourish in life.

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Values

Collaboration. Autonomy. Respect. Self-Reliance.

Befrienders International, a nonprofit and global suicide prevention agency, provides telephone hotline services in 41 countries. In 1997, they had the opportunity to develop a new program accentuating the skills necessary for young children to cope with difficult situations and to be better equipped to deal with crises and difficulties in adolescence and adulthood. To develop a program according to the objectives set by the organization, a group of psychologists from Canada, Denmark, Norway and the Netherlands developed the programme Reaching Young Europe for children aged six and seven years, promoting coping skills and healthy social skills.

In 2001 a new nonprofit organization was founded, Partnership for Children, to roll out the program worldwide. To do this, they changed the program's name in 2002 to Zippy's Friends.

In Quebec, the Center for Research and Intervention on Suicide, Ethical Issues and End-of-Life Practices (CRISE) at the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) is responsible for implementing and evaluating the Zippy's Friend program in Canada and the United States. Since 2004-2005, several school service centers in the province of Quebec have adopted the program. Such as the Montérégie, the Laurentians, the Outaouais, Kitigan Zibi, the First Nation of Timiskaming, Wendake, the national capital Quebec, and the greater Montreal. Outside Quebec, Niagara, Windsor in Ontario and Surrey in British Columbia are implementing the program. As a result, more than 20,000 children have experienced Zippy's Friends across Canada.

After running Zippy's Friends in their class, several teachers in Quebec expressed interest in a sequel so that children can maintain their new skills and continue learning. As a result, researchers and other partners involved in Zippy's Friends have come together to develop a program aimed at children in elementary school's 4, 5 and 6 grades. The development, implementation and evaluation of the Passport: Skills for Life program were funded by the Public Health Agency of Canada from 2009 to 2015.

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Brian Mishara Professor, Founder and Director of CRISE, Professor in the Department of Psychology at University of Quebec in Montreal since 1979, Brian is an internationally renowned researcher in the field of suicidology.

Brian Mishara Professor, Founder and Director of CRISE,

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Lorraine Millette Researcher / Program Coordinator

As program coordinator of mental health, Lorraine ensures the distribution, recruitment, evaluation and training for Zippy's Friends and Passport: Learning for Life.

Lorraine Millette Researcher / Program Coordinator

"By developing children's coping strategies and social skills, our main goal is to teach them early to adapt to everyday challenges, so that they are better equipped to solve the problems that await them in adolescence, and well into adulthood."

Brian Mishara Professor, Founder and Director of CRISE

"My goal is to use my skills and experiences gained from supporting schools with the implementation of our programs to help promote the emotional well-being of children in primary school."