Camilla Wasserman

About me

I am a public health researcher with degrees in Anthropology and Health Sciences. My research activities focus on youth and their mental health. I develop mental health promotion interventions, collaborate on program adaptation and evaluation, and design and analyze qualitative research studies, some of which have been adjacent to larger epidemiological studies. In all my work I set out to center youth, inviting their experiences and the meanings and vocabulary they attribute to events and everyday life to take center stage. I am the co-creator of an evidence-based mental health promotion program called Youth Aware of Mental health (YAM) designed to empower youth in reflecting on mental health and developing problem-solving skills and solidarity in play and discussion with their peers. I am currently working on a research project about how mental health correlates with leisure/free time over which youth are given various degrees of autonomy. Youth-directed spaces, where they are available and well-resourced, might be a part of the picture of youth mental health that we do not yet properly understand.