Ellen Lipman

Dr. Ellen Lipman is a child psychiatrist and Professor in the Division of Child Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences, McMaster University. She is currently Associate Chair Education in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences and Chief of the Department of Child Psychiatry at McMaster Children’s Hospital, Hamilton Health Sciences. Her clinical work includes consultation to outpatient services at the Child and Youth Mental Health Program, McMaster Children’s Hospital. Dr. Lipman’s main research interests are in the areas of child and youth mental health problems, mental health service, disadvantaged children and families and effectiveness studies.  

Much of Dr. Lipman’s past research has focused on the evaluation of intervention programs in the clinic and community, including the Canadian Big Brothers Big Sisters Adult Mentoring Program. The challenge of these effectiveness studies is that researchers must ensure methodologic and scientific rigor and complete the study in a real-world environment, in contrast to studies done where many/most study parameters can be controlled. 

Dr. Lipman is currently very interested in embedding systematic data collection and research within clinical programs and research studies in clinical settings.   

Current Activities

Some Active Research Projects:

Intervening in the Acute Management for Suicidal Adolescents and Families in the Emergency department (I AM SAFE)-Multisite study: This study takes place in multiple provinces, evaluating an intervention for acutely suicidal teens and families presenting to the ED as compared to care as usual, RCT. 

A Multi-Disciplinary, Patient-Partnered, Pan-Canadian, Comparative Effectiveness Evaluation of an Innovative Acute Pediatric Mental Health and Addiction Care Bundle: National trial of a care bundle (co-designed with parents and youth, including Choice and Partnership Approach appointment) for pediatric patients presenting to the emergency room for mental health and substance use concerns as compared to existing care protocols.  

Implementation of a youth suicide prevention intervention: Learning how to export nationally

Publications

Five Most Impactful Publications:

Rasiah J, Freedman S, Macdonald L, Prisnie K, Eltorki M, Finkelstein Y, Hopkin G, Santana MJ, Thull-Freedman J, Stang A, Prebeg M, Gagnon I, Steele M, Mater A, Katz L, Greenfield B, Plotnick L, Monga S, Lipman EL, Wright B, Dimitropoulos G, Porter R, Hurley K, Al Hamarneh Y, Newton A. Evaluation of parent and youth experiences in advisory groups as part of a mental healthcare clinical trial: protocol for a mixed-method study. BMJ Open. June 17, 2022. 12(6):e059689. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35715176/

Jack S, Lipman EL, Duku E, Niccols A, Van Lieshout R, Whitty H, Georgiades K. Young mothers’ use of and experiences with mental health care services in Ontario, Canada: a qualitative descriptive study. BMC Women’s Health. June 7, 2022. 22:214.  https://doi.org/10.1186/s12905-022-01804-z

Lipman EL, De Wit DJ, DuBois D, Larose S, Erdem G. Youth with chronic health problems: how do they fare in main-stream mentoring programs? BMC Public Health. 2018; 18:102.  https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12889-017-5003-3

Kimber M, Harms S, Soreni N, Inrig M, Acai A, Lipman EL, Sassi R, Streiner D, MacMillan H. LIVES for Families Psychological First Aid Training Program to Address COVID-19 Psychological Distress: A Mixed Methods Acceptability and Feasibility Protocol. BMJ Open. May 2021. 11(5):e049995.  https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33952558/

Lipman EL, Boyle MH. Social support and education groups for single mothers: a randomised controlled trial of a community-based program. Canadian Medical Association Journal. 2005; 173:1451-1456. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1316160/