The Behavioural Health Sciences lab at Nipissing is focused on improving clinical decision making and enhancing effectiveness of mental health services. In partnering with clinical sites as well as working with large pre-collected datasets, the lab’s efforts seek to improve treatment planning tools and evaluate health interventions. The lab also seeks to increase clinical utility of best-practice guidelines as well as examining the reciprocal relationship of media and health. Students with research interests in these fields are encouraged to contact Dr. Armstrong.
Work into treatment planning tools has consisted of evaluation of elements of treatment algorithms across care and error rates in diagnostics. Future work may include further work on standardized tools in children’s mental health.
The evaluation of interventions is aimed to provide clinicians information regarding the appropriateness of service models or proposed treatment. Work has involved evaluation in shared care and parenting programs, with future work to include evaluation of short-term mental health interventions and service evaluation in children’s mental health.
Please click here for more information regarding the Short-Term Protocol for Children's Mental Health.
This line of research aims to present clinicians with relevant information from previously conducted large-scale clinical trials through structured qualitative or quantitative review techniques. A significant focus of dissemination entails a focus on specific treatment protocols as well as expected size of effect of intervention.
While heavily focused on music, this line of research aims to examine the impact of people’s use of all media and the impact it has on behaviour. Future research will be aimed at identifying patient groups best served through music therapy services.
Alain Carlson is a psychology undergraduate from North Bay, Ontario.
His research interests include experimental psychology, clinical
psychology, and neuroscience. He is currently involved in studying
perceptual deficits in older adults, behavioural treatments for
adolescent depression and anxiety, and behavioural plasticity in
planaria.
Kaitlyn Yarlasky is an Honours Psychology student from North Bay,
Ontario. Her interests are in childhood and adulthood abnormal
psychology. Current work is in the areas of mental and developmental
health.
Candice Benson is an Honours Psychology student, minoring in
Sociology. She plans to pursue graduate studies in the Social
Psychology (and/or Community Psychology) field. Her interests are in
the development of social programs to aid the less fortunate.