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New national student standard aims to bolster mental wellness in post-secondary institutions
Attending college or university can be an exciting period of growth, exploration, and independence — but it can also be a time of tremendous pressure and stress. Well before the onset of the pandemic, the 2019 National College Health Assessment found that more than half of post-secondary students in Canada felt so depressed it was difficult to function, and nearly 70 per cent felt overwhelming anxiety.
To support post-secondary institutions in promoting positive mental health outcomes on and off campus, the Mental Health Commission of Canada (MHCC), in collaboration with CSA Group, have created the National Standard of Canada: Mental Health and Well-Being for Post-Secondary Students.
This new standard — the first of its kind in the world — is a set of voluntary guidelines developed in consultation with diverse stakeholders, including students, administrators, service providers, and people with lived and living experience of mental illness. Its goal is to provide a consistent, evidence-based framework schools can use to enhance existing mental health strategies or develop new ones.
“While it’s too soon to understand the full impact COVID-19 will have on students’ mental health, we know the pandemic has added a layer of complexity,” said Sandra Koppert, the MHCC’s director of Mental Health Advancement. “Implementing this new standard is a chance for post-secondary institutions to reinforce their commitment to student mental wellness, both now and after the pandemic.”
To help schools build momentum, the MHCC has launched a starter kit for its new standard, which includes a variety of resources, next-steps, and key considerations to support their alignment with the framework.
“Given the diversity of these institutions, we can’t have a one-size-fits-all solution,” said MHCC president and CEO Louise Bradley, who emphasized that “the framework isn’t dissimilar to the National Standard of Canada for Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace, which needed to work ‘for shops on Main Street and banks on Bay Street.’ For colleges and universities, their size, geographic location, and areas of specialty — not to mention their vision and values — will all determine how they wish to tailor their actions.”
Koppert agrees that the customized approach to improvement is what sets the new standard apart. “Many schools have great mental health initiatives already in place, but as circumstances change, the needs of students change with them. This standard provides a framework that helps schools adapt and expand their programs to ensure they’re as effective as possible.”
“Consider the COVID reality,” added Bradley. “With courses shifting online, instructors may become the primary point of contact for many students. So it’s more important than ever to equip them with tools that can help them recognize the signs of mental distress and support their students effectively. To that end, some institutions may choose mental health training for faculty, which directly aligns with the evidence-based recommendations in the standard.”
For Ed Mantler, the MHCC’s vice-president of Programs and Priorities, “this new standard helps institutions see that many aspects of their policies can be seen through a mental health lens. From accommodation policies to diversity and inclusion efforts to subsidies and grants, all impact mental health and need to be understood as such.”
Research shows that students who get the mental health support they need are more likely to succeed in their classes and graduate.
But as Bradley points out, the benefit of supporting student mental health goes beyond the bell curve.
“Understanding mental health and wellness, knowing when and how to seek help, and breaking down stigma are lessons that will prepare students well for the rest of their lives. To me, that spells success.”
Suzanne Westover
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Donovan Taplin harnesses the power of lived experience
Back in the spring, at the height of the pandemic, Donovan Taplin happened to see that the Mental Health Commission of Canada (MHCC) was seeking a new board director.
“The timing was perfect,” said Taplin. “The bulk of my work as vice-chair of the technical committee in charge of developing the post-secondary standard for student mental health was behind me, but I felt that my contribution was just getting started.”
Louise Bradley, president and CEO of the MHCC, strongly agreed. “I first heard Donovan speak at Newfoundland and Labrador’s provincewide youth mental health conference in 2015, and his talk still resonates with me today.”
But when Taplin recalls his first meeting with Bradley, it’s not the view from the podium that comes to mind. “At that point, I had shared my struggles with mental illness with just one close friend, and now I was about to get on a stage and share those struggles with hundreds of strangers. I was terrified. Then, a woman seated next to me took my hand (she could see I was trembling) and whispered, ‘You don’t have to do this. If you aren’t ready, I’ll wave that MC away, and they’ll figure out a Plan B. I’ll be right here with you.’”
Bradley smiled when hearing of Taplin’s recollection. “It’s a reminder, I think, that while kindness costs us nothing, the result can be priceless — and that’s certainly the case with Donovan’s advocacy.”
Taplin said that those grounding words propelled him onto the stage that day, which has since opened the doors to sharing some of the wisdom born from lived experience.
“I grew up on a rural island community in Newfoundland and Labrador (N.L.). I didn’t have clinical or social support or even a language to discuss how debilitated and overwhelmed I was when it came to my mental health. I also knew that I was queer, and that feeling unsafe and unaccepted was contributing to how unwell I felt all the time. Eventually, I took a boat to St. John’s for my first therapy session, even though I was afraid that my being queer would be a valid reason for refusing to treat me. Thankfully, I was wrong and that’s when my recovery began.”
Here, Taplin paused to emphasize that the discrimination 2sLGBTQ+ people face isn’t a relic of the past.
“After my undergrad, just a few years ago, my partner and I moved to Toronto — a city that represented all the things I craved: inclusivity, progressive values, rich diversity. And yet my first experience with the city was being denied an apartment, explicitly because I was part of a same-sex couple.”
Taplin has since stayed in the city following graduate studies to work at the University of Toronto’s Health and Wellness Centre but is now sometimes feeling the weight of shifting roles.
“On the one hand, I’ve just been one of the most prominent student voices on the committee that set out to transform how post-secondary students are supported at colleges and universities. On the other, my current work with administrators lets me see some of the institutional challenges involved. Those will take time to unravel before we can realize something closer to the wellness-driven community envisioned in the Student Standard.”
Taplin explained that the Student Standard is meant to be a bridge, a means to get students together with the administration to co-create higher-learning communities where students aren’t left on their own to navigate a complicated system.
Such efforts on the National Standard of Canada: Mental Health and Well-Being for Post-Secondary Students were recently recognized through a CSA Group Young Professional Award, which acknowledged Taplin’s compassionate and dedicated leadership.
The governance skills needed to co-lead the Student Standard technical committee took root at the tender age of 19, when Taplin was elected as a town councillor for Wabana, Bell Island, N.L. In that role, they helped establish the community’s first recognition of Mental Illness Awareness Week as well as Pride Month. Since that time, Taplin’s ability to effect positive change is reflected in positions on the Premier’s Youth Advisory Committee (N.L.) and the Prime Minister’s Youth Council.
That spirit of creating improved circumstances for all is what drew Taplin to the MHCC’s board. “I see the organization as a bit of a lantern, showing individuals, organizations, and governments a way forward toward improved policy, better access, and ultimately, parity in funding.”
Bradley concurred. “We can only burn as brightly as the hearts and minds that fuel our work. There is no doubt in my mind that Donovan is going to challenge us and buoy us up. In some ways, I have watched Donovan grow up — certainly I’ve witnessed very formative years. One thing I know for sure: the future of mental health advocacy is in good hands.”
Suzanne Westover
If there was ever a need for crisis training, it was during the onset of COVID-19. That’s one reason the Mental Health Commission of Canada (MHCC) stepped into the breach by offering virtual training to more than 5,139 essential workers, who took over 574 courses between April and October.
Now, the MHCC has expanded its virtual offerings to include an updated version of one if its most popular courses — The Working Mind (TWM).
“TWM Virtual combines elements of the original TWM with virtual crisis training to create one complete course,” explained Pauline Meunier, training and delivery specialist for the MHCC’s Opening Minds program. “It’s the best of both worlds.”
The evidence-based program was designed to initiate a shift in the way employees and leaders think and feel about mental health by addressing barriers to care, reducing stigma, and strengthening personal resilience. Each training module includes case studies, videos featuring people with lived experience of mental illness, reference guides, and practical handouts.
“Most adults spend two-thirds of their waking hours at work,” said Louise Bradley, president and CEO of the MHCC. “Now, with many workplaces operating remotely, I would argue that those hours are stretching. That’s certainly been my experience. So it’s more important than ever that employers have the tools to support their workers, especially since mental distress may be harder to detect when people aren’t working under one roof.”
One popular tool to help workplaces keep their finger on the pulse of employee mental health is the mental health continuum model, which highlights a spectrum of thoughts, attitudes, and behaviours associated with different mental health levels, from “healthy” to “reacting” to “injured” to “ill.”
For John Horne, vice-president of Safety, Health, and Environment at Nutrien, it’s been invaluable. “The mental health continuum provides an accessible approach and common language for the organization to talk about mental health. TWM’s emphasis on teaching employees and leaders to focus on actions that can be taken early on the continuum ensures that we can be proactive in giving employees the support they need for their mental well-being.”
As a former paramedic chief, Meunier knows the value of prioritizing mental health in the workplace firsthand. “You never know who’s struggling. Many employees put their work first, at their own expense,” she explained. “If you aren’t investing in and supporting the mental health of your employees, it will cost you down the road — whether through loss of productivity or an inability to keep moving forward at work.”
TWM Virtual offers a five-hour course for employees and a seven-hour version for managers. While both address similar topics — self-assessment, stress, stigma, and resilience — the manager’s course emphasizes the role leaders play in supporting their staff. Managers are given techniques to assist employees who may be struggling, including how to approach conversations about suicide.
One organization that recognized the value in this skill set was Enbridge, which had arranged TWM training for leaders in its major offices before the pandemic hit. “At Enbridge, safety is at the core of everything we do,” said human resources specialist Lisa McCarney, “and that includes the psychological health and safety of our employees. We have now pivoted to virtual training, which allows us to reach leaders wherever they are working: whether in the major offices, at home, or in our smaller and more remote locations.”
As with the traditional TWM programs, TWM Virtual is based on scientific evidence and is subject to rigorous pre- and post-evaluation outcome measures. Course instructors are also held to a high standard, undergoing extensive training not only to deliver the content effectively but also to create the safe environment needed to foster open conversations about mental health.
“What sets TWM Virtual apart is the high level of care for participants,” said Charles Boyer, manager of business development for the MHCC’s Opening Minds and Mental Health First Aid programs. “Throughout each course, moderators pay careful attention to make sure participants are doing well, opening up virtual breakout rooms whenever they are needed. We want participants to feel safe, comfortable, and engaged.”
For Meunier, the message to employers who are considering the training is simple. “Investing in the mental health and well-being of employees is crucial to the overall health of your organization. Whatever you invest today, you’ll make back tenfold tomorrow.”
Why is authentic stakeholder engagement important in KT?
We discussed identifying and engaging stakeholder in an earlier post, but how do you move beyond that initial contact and why is it important to do so? Relationships are incredibly important, and our projects cannot go very far if we do not have support and buy in from those around us who can make things happen and support the implementation of our innovations.
“Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much”
~ Helen Keller
Authentic engagement moves past a simple ask and builds a relationship to support positive, lasting change where everyone involved understands and supports the knowledge and action in a meaningful way. Beyond engaging for the purpose of implementing your innovation, it is important for you to understand your stakeholders, their needs, their strengths and the way they work. This can shape how you approach knowledge translation to ensure it has the greatest impact.
Moving past initial contact for meaningful engagement
So, you’ve made your first contact, your stakeholder seems to have an interest and it looks like you’ve got some common ground. How do you deepen that and move to the level of collaboration or partnership if that is where you are hoping to go with things? Below are some things you can do to move toward more meaningful stakeholder relations.
1. Schedule a “coffee” either virtually or in person. In previous roles as a community developer, whenever taking a new position in a new neighbourhood, one of my favourite things to do was my “100 cups of coffee” initiatives. Being new and not knowing anyone, it was a great way to develop stakeholder and community relationships. You make your initial contact through formal means, but the cup of coffee helps to take down the walls and help you to connect on a more individual and interpersonal level, to explore commonalities and alignment. If you go this route, be sure to prepare some questions and conversation starters in advance to help facilitate a smooth, meaningful conversation and “break the ice”. Try to build it in your project budget to cover the costs of the coffee or other drink of choice whenever possible, this takes the cost burden out of the equation of an in person “coffee”
2. Keep track of conversations and record ideas and potential alignment that are discussed. This approach will help you build on conversations, follow up on things and explore options. You might want to gather more information on a potential idea and circle back to develop it further.
3. Always ask if there is someone else to whom you should be talking. We don’t know what we don’t know, and sometimes there are other connections that are important to engage that we have never thought of. Including your existing stakeholders in this exploration strengthens the relationship and also furthers your project.
4. Always follow up with appreciation. Whenever you have initiated a conversation, follow up with a quick email to appreciate the stakeholder for their time and conversation. Highlight the valuable learning you have gained from spending time with them.
5. Don’t forget that relationships are give and take. Make sure your conversations and interactions are not just all about what you need from them and take an interest in their work and achievements. Make it your business to understand their work and the value it brings to a community, organization or a sector. Is there anything that their relationship with you can bring to the table or any meaningful connections you can provide that might help them be effective in their work?
It is worth the effort!
Putting focused time and effort into developing relationships with the right stakeholders can make a huge difference in in the results of your project and the effectiveness of the knowledge translation. Don’t get discouraged if things don’t take off right away, keep working on building each relationship and be mindful of timing and opportunity. If now is not the right time to develop a meaningful connection, perhaps a window will open in the near future!
Helpful tools and resources
The Engagement Funnel (Tamarack Institute) https://www.tamarackcommunity.ca/library/engagement-funnel
BSR’s stakeholder engagement tools: https://www.bsr.org/en/our-insights/report-view/stakeholder-engagement-five-step-approach-toolkit
International Association for Public Participation’s IAP2 Spectrum of Engagement:
English: https://iap2canada.ca/Resources/Documents/0702-Foundations-Spectrum-MW-rev2%20(1).pdf
French: https://www.iap2canada.ca/resources/FR/Documents/AIP2Canada-Spectrum-FINAL-2016.pdf
Research to Action’s list of resources to help support stakeholder engagement: https://www.researchtoaction.org/2015/09/stakeholder-mapping-resource-list/
Alexa Bol has a Graduate degree in Community Studies and Global change and more than 15 years of experience in the non-profit sector. Before coming to the Mental Health Commission of Canada (MHCC), Alexa worked in Community and International Development where she used participatory approaches to create positive change at both grassroots and system levels. As Manager of Knowledge Mobilization, Opening Minds at the MHCC, Alexa is dedicated to seeing knowledge translated into action throughout the Mental Health and Addictions sectors in a manner that includes and values all voices.
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Medical student, peer supporter and mental health champion Armaghan Alam embraces a new challenge
Armaghan Alam (who goes by Army) comes by his passion for mental health honestly. At 14, he found himself an ocean away from his family at a boarding school in Ontario.
“I was born in Pakistan, but we moved around a lot,” recalled Alam, who is currently a medical student at the University of British Columbia. “My family was living in Saudi Arabia, but I chose to pursue schooling here.” The gulf between Alam and his family left him feeling isolated and adrift. Peer support became a veritable lifeline.
“I quickly saw the value of a listening ear and, in turn, lending a hand to others,” he said, a belief he carried to McGill University, where he helped expand its peer support initiatives and quickly became a campus champion.
Now, at UBC, he’s found himself in a culture where it’s a much harder sell. “It’s ironic, really, because if anyone needs to be able to decompress with someone who understands the depth of their experiences, it’s medical students.”
But the “hidden curriculum” that puts self-sacrifice at the top of the syllabus makes them reluctant to come forward.
“I think there’s a wall that health-care providers have to put up in order to care for their patients,” he said. “We’ve got to be able to compartmentalize to do our job effectively. But when it comes to managing our own emotions, the wall can become our undoing.”
That such stigma was slowly being peeled back in recent years among health-care workers isn’t in dispute. Yet Alam worries whether those delicate incisions into the entrenched culture of stoicism will be overgrown by the scar tissue left by COVID-19.
“Just as we were beginning to talk seriously about health-care providers caring for themselves, we have a global pandemic that is seeing their selflessness being celebrated in all corners of the world. We’re holding up our health-care workers as the heroes they are — but when do they get to take off their proverbial capes and put their feet up? Who is looking after them?”
Alam likens the pandemic to a chronic disease that needs to be managed rather than an acute symptom that can be more readily addressed — and everywhere he turns, he sees its mental health implications.
“To look after mental health means good social policy, sound economics, and a functioning justice system,” he said. “It means addressing racism, intergenerational trauma, and the cultural barriers to care.” As a member of an immigrant community, Alam’s perspective offers a lens into the unique hurdles facing ethnocultural groups, where mental illness remains highly stigmatized.
Being an avid reader and life-long learner, mental health offers him endless avenues of fascinating study. And when he considers his future career, Alam is confident that, regardless of the speciality he ends up pursuing, he won’t stray too far from his passion.
“Whether I elect to focus on psychiatry or surgery, the fact is, every patient is more than just the sum of their diagnosis. Some of the most profound, life-changing conversations I’ve borne witness to have happened just before a patient goes into surgery. Staring down your mortality is one of the most powerful things anyone can experience. Being there with them in that moment — that’s not too far removed from why I fell in love with peer support.”
Bringing his skills and experience full circle, Alam is excited to offer his spirit of curiosity to the Mental Health Commission of Canada’s (MHCC’s) board of directors, where he’s keen to learn from experts in economics, justice, and governmental affairs.
“On several occasions, I’ve had the privilege of speaking with Dr. David Goldbloom (the MHCC’s former board chair), someone I looked up to in my formative years. To have a seat at the table he once helmed . . . it’s an honour beyond measure.”
Suzanne Westover
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A call for communities to join our Roots of Hope Early Adopters initiative
When the Mental Health Commission of Canada (MHCC) launched its Roots of Hope suicide prevention project in eight communities across Canada, the concept was ambitious: Build on community expertise to implement interventions tailored to the local context, while developing a wider evidence base of best practices, guidelines, and tools fit for a national scale-up.
But with the initial demonstration phase of the project slated to take place over five years, others began asking how their community might get involved without having to wait so long. Eager to share the model as widely as possible, the MHCC’s Prevention and Promotion team answered the call by developing the Roots of Hope Early Adopters initiative.
Like the demonstration project, the strategies and activities developed by Early Adopters will be based on Roots of Hope’s five pillars: specialized supports, training and networks, public awareness campaigns, means safety, and research.
“This program was born from community demand,” said Nitika Rewari, manager of Prevention and Promotion Initiatives at the MHCC. “Early Adopters will be the first to learn from what’s happened so far in the demonstration project as they begin building their own action plans, all with the guidance of the commission.”
Much of that guidance will be in the form of a community of practice (CoP), consisting of representatives from fellow Early Adopter communities and MHCC program staff. The CoP meetings will give Early Adopters access to tools and resources already developed in the demonstration project. It will also let them ask questions, share what is and isn’t working, and draw from the collective well of experience. It’s a model that’s proven invaluable for the first eight Roots of Hope communities, who continue to draw on their own CoP meetings for guidance, knowledge sharing, and connection.
“The diversity of communities represented in the CoP has been incredibly informative to the work we are doing in Iqaluit,” said Opal Mcinnis, PhD, territorial manager of mental health and addictions facilities with the Nunavut government. “As a project site that is in its early days of planning, the CoP has created excitement for what we can look forward to achieving.”
Denika Ward, a suicide prevention coordinator with the Burin Peninsula community, agrees about the value of the CoP. “It has allowed for networking with individuals from various communities involved in the Roots of Hope project across Canada and contributed to the positive, long-lasting effects of suicide prevention efforts for residents of the Burin Peninsula.”
While the eight demonstration project communities and the Early Adopters will operate independently, all the findings will ultimately contribute to a national scale-up of the Roots of Hope model. As communities band together to find the most effective strategies for them, they will simultaneously lay the groundwork for a Canadian model of community-led suicide prevention.
For Ryan Walsh, Prevention and Promotion program manager, that combination of long- and short-term rewards is what sets the Early Adopters initiative apart. “Not many communities can say they directly contributed to suicide prevention on a national scale. Early Adopters have a rare opportunity to demonstrate their commitment to suicide prevention, benefit from what the demonstration project communities have learned, and be at the forefront of the Canadian model.”
As Walsh is quick to point out, the opportunity to be an Early Adopter is not limited to large, urban areas — far from it. “Part of the project’s strength comes from the diversity of the participating communities. What works for one area may be completely unfeasible for another. The more we can learn from those differences, the more successful the model will be in reducing the impact of suicide across the country.”
Interested in becoming a Roots of Hope Early Adopter? Email Nitika Rewari for more information at nrewari@mentalhealthcommission.ca
Amber St. Louis
Since COVID-19, there have been some changes and rebooking in meetups, which have all been quite manageable. I was already working from home prior to this crisis, and I assumed that the personal impact would be negligible. This is only partly the case. There is a subconscious unknowingness that’s hard to put a finger on. One fact is that we are experiencing a global shift in humanity.
My working career was front-line focused, so I very much relate to those now engaged. The crisis has dramatically brought to mind the importance of shaping a thriving and resilient healthcare, wellness, and prevention delivery which speaks to our KT initiative—and is indeed encouraging. This crisis increases our collective appetite for experimentation and reduces adoption hurdles, thus I believe positive outcomes will result from opportunities presented.
A big shout out for digital health! Things will change after the dust has settled from the COVID-19 pandemic, and the importance of mental health cannot be understated.
#ktfromhome
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How one group is making strides toward better access to psychotherapy
“Parity,” “shorter wait times,” “fewer barriers,” “what we need, when we need it.”
Those were some of the key words and phrases members of the psychotherapy policy implementation network (PPIN) shared when asked to describe what better access to psychotherapies means to them. At their first meeting last February, of course, they couldn’t have imagined that a brewing pandemic would heighten the urgency of their work.
The PPIN consists of thought leaders, people with lived experience, Canadian health‑care provider associations, clinicians, researchers, and other experts. Its goal is to develop recommendations for the federal government that will increase access to psychotherapies in the Canadian health-care system. In its role as secretariat, the Mental Health Commission of Canada (MHCC) acts as an impartial facilitator of the group’s activities. Dr. Karen Cohen, CEO of the Canadian Psychological Association (CPA), co-chairs the network alongside the MHCC.
“While some publicly funded psychotherapies exist in hospitals and mental health centres, they have long waiting lists and many people cannot afford the services offered in private practice,” noted Louise Bradley, the MHCC’s president and CEO. “Yet these treatments are essential to our population’s health.”
The network is a place to share information, explained Kam Tello, the program manager for the MHCC’s Access to Quality Mental Health Services. “We have to look at what’s available in each jurisdiction, what’s working, and where the gaps are from different perspectives. It’s a collaborative effort.”
The PPIN is currently drafting a declaration on the need to enhance access to psychotherapy. In charting the process and recommendations about how to do so, it will consider funding models, quality assurance, implementation, and outcome-based measurements of care.
This work has taken on even more significance in light of the fears, uncertainties, job losses, and economic instability wrought by COVID-19. For Cohen, the need to close the gaps in access to psychological services has increased in urgency as individuals, families, and communities cope with the physical and mental health impacts of the pandemic.
Canada’s public and private health sectors have thankfully stepped up to offer mental health services and supports. Examples include CPA’s crisis response initiative for front-line health-care workers and social workers, the addition of counsellors/psychotherapists as employee benefits for government workers, and the federal government’s Wellness Together Canada portal with free resources and counselling.
While these enhancements are a step in the right direction, unfortunately, many are program based and may only be temporary. To improve wellness and treat illness over the long term, we need sustainable investments in mental health services and supports.
“That’s why the PPIN is focused on long-term solutions,” said Tello. “When COVID-19 is behind us, perhaps along with many of the programs and services it has inspired, people in Canada will still need access to meaningful, evidence-based mental health treatments, maybe more than ever.”
To develop recommendations that fit the Canadian context, the PPIN is also looking abroad. The United Kingdom and Australia have their own expanded access programs, built on grant- and insurance-based models, which serve as important case studies in crafting a built-for-Canada solution. (Visit the MHCC’s Expanding Access page for a more in-depth look at these examples.)
While the PPIN has much work ahead, its members are encouraged by the shift in the mental health conversation.
“There seems to be growing recognition that mental health is part of health and should be treated equally,” said Tello. “There’s more interest from employers, more coverage from the media, and more discussion about access and why it matters.”
Bradley concurs. “Access to better mental health care could be a deciding factor for curbing an echo pandemic in mental illness as we (eventually) emerge from COVID-19. If there is a silver lining to the challenges we’re hurdling now, it may be the recognition that physical health is only half the battle. There is no health without mental health.”
As the conversation about physical and mental health parity gains steam, the PPIN is striving toward meaningful action to achieve it. By developing sound recommendations, the group hopes to help position Canada as a global leader in expanded access to psychotherapies.
For Maureen Abbott, manager of the MHCC’s Access to Quality Mental Health Services, the composition of the network itself only makes such an outcome more likely. “The members offer relevant personal and professional experience regarding access to psychotherapies. But a great strength of the group is respecting and valuing members’ diversity of opinions and perspectives as they reach consensus during the decision-making process.”
Update, February 2022: The work of the PPIN is now complete! Read The Time is Now: Considerations for a National Psychotherapy Program.
Amber St. Louis
Storytelling is a tool used in many different contexts, like when a teacher shares a story during a lesson at school or a grandfather shares a story about family traditions.
Chances are that at some point in your life, you have told a story. Storytelling is a tool used in many different contexts, like when a teacher shares a story during a lesson at school or a grandfather shares a story about family traditions. Storytelling is one of the oldest forms of teaching and sharing, and it’s no surprise that it is a popular method of Knowledge Translation.
So, what exactly is storytelling? Storytelling is an effective way of sharing a message, experience or lesson. It can be used in various formats, such as in person, through video, in an audiobook or podcast, or via text. The examples above highlight how storytelling may be used in everyday life. In the mental health and addictions field, we commonly see storytelling used when a person with lived experience shares their story.
Storytelling is popular for a reason; stories are impactful because they are personal and bring the information to life, which helps the listener find meaning in the information and apply it. Stories can also break down barriers and encourage attitude and behaviour change by increasing empathy and understanding in the listener. A story moves people beyond research findings and allows the listener to connect with and immerse themselves into it, triggering an empathic response. Stories also help with retaining information more easily, and they are easily accessible to a wide range of people. Finally, stories are likely to be retold and shared with others.
If you are planning to use storytelling as a method for your Knowledge Translation, keep in mind the following tips for safely and effectively telling your story:
- Make sure you are ready to share your story
Your story may lead to praise, criticism, questions, or further opportunities. Make sure that you are in a space to accept these various reactions and work with them.
- Know your audience
You do not need to share all the details of your story if it doesn’t feel right for who you are presenting to. For example, the details that you share with a group of adults may differ from what you would share with a group of young adults.
- Focus on educating others
Determine what your purpose and intention is by sharing your story. What is it that you want them to learn? What is the message you want to give?
- Look at eliciting hope, or focusing on the positive
This doesn’t mean that your story should not include hard times or negative experiences, but keep in mind that some details of your story may be triggering for others and may not need to be included. The focus of your story should be what has come from those negative experiences and what got you to here.
- Respect the confidentiality of others in your story
There is no doubt that your story will include other characters, but avoid using their real names or identifying factors, regardless if they had a positive or negative impact in your life. If you do think it would be beneficial to include information (i.e. the name of a doctor that really helped you), be sure to get their permission.
- Consider stating that your story is yours
Everyone’s journey is unique. Your audience should know that it’s okay if their experience is different from yours.
- Be creative (if you want)
There are no strict rules for how to tell your story. You may find it easiest to stick with a chronological story, or maybe you would rather focus on one theme at a time. Think about the message that you are trying to convey and how best to do that.
- Be genuine – be yourself!
Tell your story as you, using your voice and your personality (but remember to know your audience). This will help you connect with your audience. If you’re sharing your story via text, it’s okay to be informal. Easy language will draw people in and set you apart from academic or formal texts.
For a helpful tool, check out the MHCC resource below called “Telling Your Story”, which was created for individuals involved in caregiving who are promoting caregiver guidelines and recommendations. While the chart used is specific to that project’s purpose, it can easily be modified to your own story’s purpose.
Link: https://dev-mhcc.pantheonsite.io/resource/appendix-8-telling-your-story/
References
Hajric, Emil. “Storytelling.” Knowledge Management Tools, 2018, www.knowledge-management-tools.net/storytelling.php.
Wende, Erik, et al. “Exploring Storytelling as a Knowledge Transfer Technique in Offshore Outsourcing.” Thirty Fifth International Conference on Information Systems, 2014, pdfs.semanticscholar.org/149b/97578731d35563254a6d879ee4623219b140.pdf.
“Headstrong.” HEADSTRONG, 2020, headstrongyouth.ca/.
Author: Caroline Ostrom
