The Collaborative NCCPH Project on Population Mental Health
The NCCs have joined forces to carry out two activities to address specific gaps in population mental health in Canada: the creation of a list of mental health promotion resources for children and youth, and the organization of a national forum to help clarify the roles of different actors in mental health and wellness promotion.
Quick Links to our population mental health project activities :
- Forum on Population mental health and wellness promotion: Clarifying the roles of public health (2018)
- Documents and Resources on Population Mental Health Promotion for Children and Youth (2017)
Population Mental Health and Wellness Promotion: Clarifying the Roles of Public Health
On February 28, 2018, in Gatineau, Québec, the NCCs, in partnership with the Public Health Agency of Canada, the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, the Canadian Mental Health Association, and the Mental Health Commission of Canada, brought together 70 leaders from public health, mental health and Indigenous health organizations from all provinces and territories. This two-day forum, entitled Population Mental Health and Wellness Promotion: Clarifying the Roles of Public Health, was oriented to population health, and underpinned by determinants and enablers of positive mental health and wellness.
Positive mental health is a multi-faceted concept, one that is distinct from mental illness and embraces emotional, psychological and social components. Although holistic considerations of health which include positive mental health are recent in Eurocentric worldviews, they have been, and continue to be, central to Indigenous peoples. Thus, the forum intentionally bridged Indigenous and non-Indigenous knowledge. Accordingly, NCCs, partners and representatives from the Thunderbird Partnership Foundation, University of Toronto, Ottawa Public Health, Saskatchewan Health Authority, Institut national de santé publique du Québec, and the BC Ministry of Health contributed to the event’s advisory committee.
For more on the forum’s activities, themes and participants, see our full-length web story in the news section of this site.
Forum resources and presentations:
Day 1
- “Population Mental Health Promotion: Conceptual, Policy and Implementation Perspectives” by Margaret Barry, National University of Ireland (PPP)
- “First Nations Mental Wellness Continuum Framework” by Carol Hopkins of the Thunderbird Partnership Foundation (PPP)
Day 2
- “Integrating Mental Health Promotion into Public Health Practice: Lessons Learned from Towards Flourishing in Manitoba” by Mariette Chartier, University of Manitoba and Marion Cooper, Canadian Mental Health Association (PPP)
- “Mental Health Promotion and Suicide Prevention: A Local Public Health Approach” by Ben Leikin, Ottawa Public Health (PPP)
- “Mental Health and Wellness Promotion: A Policy Perspective from the First Nations Health Authority, BC” by Erika Mundell, First Nations Health Authority, British Columbia (PPP)
- “Practice Informed Policy: Mental Health Promotion in Ontario’s Public Health System” by Tamar Meyer, Knowledge Exchange Provincial System Support Program, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health(PPP)
- “Policy informed Practice: Public Health Involvement in Mental Health Promotion in BC”, by Stephen Smith, B.C. Ministry of Health (PPP)
- “Indigenous Perspectives in Mental Wellness Promotion : Opportunities for Public Health Action” by Margo Greenwood, National Collaborating Centre for Aboriginal Health (PPP)
Further resources
Population Mental Health Promotion for Children and Youth
Mental health is a public health priority that requires competent, confident front-line staff to work in collaboration with others to build healthy and resilient communities, and engage with individuals and families to provide appropriate supports.
The six NCCs for Public Health collaborated on a project focused on population mental health promotion for children and youth. Together, they aimed to mobilize public health knowledge and action by clarifying key concepts and exploring the public health role. The project has resulted in a collection of topical papers, alongside general resources, including background information and a resource scan, to help public health practitioners engage with the topic from a variety of perspectives.
The Population mental health promotion for children and youth collection includes:
General resources
- Population mental health promotion for children and youth – a collection for public health in Canada
- Foundations: definitions and concepts to frame population mental health promotion for children and youth
- Scan Report: resources for population mental health promotion for children and youth in Canada
- Database of resources for population mental health promotion for children and youth in Canada
Topical papers
- Environmental influences on population mental health promotion for children and youth
- Chronic diseases and population mental health promotion for children and youth
- Infectious diseases and population mental health promotion for children and youth
- Healthy public policies and population mental health promotion for children and youth
- Considerations for Indigenous child and youth population mental health promotion in Canada
This project builds on previous collaborative work led by the NCC for Healthy Public Policy. This can be accessed by visiting their project page for Population Mental Health.