Prepared By:
Nicole Dupuis, Director of Health Promotion
Date:
November 21, 2019
Subject:
Mental Health Promotion Framework for Windsor-Essex County: Introduction and Next Steps
Background
In 2018, the revised Ontario Public Health Standards included mental health promotion as a new requirement for public health units in Ontario (Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, 2018). In preparation for this work, the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit (WECHU) and Canadian Mental Health Association Windsor-Essex (CMHA) joined under a strategic partnership agreement for the prevention of mental illness and promotion of positive mental health through shared resources and leadership.
CMHA and WECHU have collaborated on a number of projects since the inception of their strategic partnership, including but not limited to the development of the suicide prevention coalition, suicide prevention awareness month, curriculum supports for First Responders, and gambling awareness and prevention. As a first step in partnership toward Mental Health Promotion, the CMHA and the WECHU identified the need to develop a Mental Health Promotion framework for Windsor-Essex.
Current Initiatives
Early in 2019, the WECHU and CMHA began work on a local report for positive mental health. The shared vision of the report was to outline:
- A mental health promotion framework for community adoption;
- A shared community understanding and meaning of mental health promotion;
- Current services and programs for mental health promotion in Windsor-Essex; and
- Areas for future work and collaboration.
Over a six-month period, key stakeholders across Windsor-Essex were engaged in an environmental scan via focus group and online survey. The purpose of the scan was to understand current services related to mental health promotion in Windsor-Essex as well as to understand opportunities for future planning.
The results of the mental health promotion scan have been combined with the mental health promotion framework for the first report on Mental Health Promotion for Windsor-Essex.
References
Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care. (2018). Ontario Public Health Standards: Requirements for Programs, Services and Accountability. Toronto: Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care.
Consultation
The following individuals consulted in the development of this report:
- Claudia den Boer, Executive Director, Canadian Mental Health Association Windsor-Essex
- Kim Willis, Director, Canadian Mental Health Association Windsor-Essex
- Neil Mackenzie, Manager, Chronic Disease & Injury Prevention, Windsor-Essex County Health Unit
- Alex Erikson, Mental Health Specialist, Windsor-Essex County Health Unit
- Mindy Hartleib, PhD candidate, University of Windsor
- Kelly Farrugia, Manager, Healthy Schools, Windsor-Essex County Health Unit
- Felicia Lawal, Manager, Healthy Families, Windsor-Essex County Health Unit
Approved By:
Theresa Marentette, CEO