Graduate student wins prize in the 2026 SSHRC Storytellers Challenge

PhD student Li-elle Rapaport is one of the 20 finalists of a national research storytelling competition.

Rapaport created the video for the 2026 Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Storytellers Challenge that asked postsecondary students to show off their SSHRC-funded research in three minutes or 300 words. 

Her video focusses on research from her masters degree about mental health treatment and how older adults engage with healthcare professionals. This understudied population faces unique challenges and does not seek mental health care as often as younger Canadians.

Rapaport interviewed healthcare providers to find out what is preventing older patients from seeking mental health care. She found three barriers: 

1. Referral factors: The referral system is often confusing and the mental healthcare system is strained, with far more patients than supports.
2. Pathway navigation: It is a struggle to figure out how to get a referral and primary care doctors are sometimes reluctant to refer patients to a strained mental health system.
3. Individual patient factors: These include agism, patient fear and the belief that it is too late to change.

The good news is that older adults have positive outcomes once they get treatment and feel heard, seen and valued. The healthcare system needs to simplify the pathways for care of older adults by helping patients and their doctors collaborate more easily.   

Watch the award-winning presentation below.