At CAMH, one of the largest mental health hospitals in North America, pet therapy has long been one of the most beloved programs on the inpatient units. But until recently, the people who benefit most from these animal visits—patients—had little say in how the program was delivered. That’s where our team stepped in.

During my two co-op terms from May to December 2022, I worked with Dr. Maslej on the project examining the impact of using machine learning to enhance the assessment of challenging patient behaviours in acute psychiatric care, such as violence or aggression…