No More ‘Us’ and ‘Them’:
Integrating Recovery and Well-Being into a Conceptual Model for Mental Health Policy

Do ideas even matter in Canadian mental health policy? Aren’t funding and action what is needed? The public policy literature suggests that ideas have an important role to play, alongside of other factors such as funding, monitoring, and institutional structures. Ideas are particularly important for paradigm change and complex policy issues, and in de-centralized governance contexts, all of which are relevant to mental health policy in Canada. By stating that “at the core we are all the same, there is no us and them,” the 2012 Mental Health Strategy for Canada called for a paradigm shift in ideas about mental health and mental illness. However, during national consultations it became clear that core concepts are often in competition with each other, even when they share underlying principles. For example, one core set of principles pertained to mental health promotion and positive mental health for the whole population, while a similar set pertained to recovery of a meaningful life for people with mental health problems and illnesses. I will present an integrated conceptual model that draws various concepts together into a coherent whole and reflects the mental health needs of all of us, whether or not we are living with a mental illness. This conceptual model can help mobilize the transformative policy change called for in the Strategy and bring an end to ‘us-and-them’ thinking. Concrete examples of integrated approaches from Canada and elsewhere will be discussed. This talk is based on a paper (in press) which was co-authored with Dr. Gillian Mulvale, McMaster University.

PRESENTER:

Mary Bartram
PhD Candidate, School of Public Policy and Administration
Former Director, Mental Health Strategy, Mental Health Commission of Canada

Please note: This talk will be webcast using Big Blue Button and may be recorded. Please see below for login instructions.
For participants who cannot attend in person:

Not on campus? Not a problem! You can still join and participate in this talk.

Please go to:
http://sppa.blindsidenetworks.net/sppa/ and login using the “room” named SPPA-Talk

To do so, you simply need to type in your own full name and use the following password (lowercase): welcome

You will be able to listen to the conversation, ask questions using the chat function or use your USB microphone to participate!

Please watch this short tutorial https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9mbw00P9W0

If you do not have a working microphone or a stable internet connection, you will be able to join this meeting by phone Just go to the conference website. http://sppa.blindsidenetworks.net/sppa/. and go to the room named SPPA-Talks. There you will find a phone number to dial as well as a pin number.