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IIMHL

Accelerating Change Toward Mental Health, Well-Being and Inclusion

A collaboration to share promising practices and research to support the best outcomes for people living with disabilities, mental health problems or illnesses and their families.

This learning opportunity consists of two events: Leadership Matches and the Combined Meeting.

LEADERSHIP MATCHES

Hosted at more than 30 sites across North America, these workshops or “matches” cover a variety of topics. For a full list, visit IIMHL or IIDL. Here are some highlights:

SPARK International (Vancouver, Sept. 17-18) – This training workshop hosted by the MHCC will help participants learn and apply techniques for moving evidence-informed research and knowledge in mental health more quickly into practice. Designed specifically for leaders in mental health, it will give participants the opportunity to work with internationally-recognized knowledge translation experts.

Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) International Summit (Vancouver, Sept. 17-18) – Hosted by MHFA Canada and MHFA USA, this summit is a first opportunity for representatives of MHFA programs from around the world meet to share successes and challenges in areas including: course adaptation to special markets; quality assurance; business models; evaluation and research; and strategic directions. This summit will help lead the way forward in communication and collaboration, leading to better results for anyone who takes a Mental Health First Aid course regardless of what country they are in.

Community Action for Suicide Prevention (Vancouver, Sept. 21-22) – Co-hosted by the MHCC and the Public Health Agency of Canada, this match will provide participants the opportunity to share innovative models to build and enhance community action for suicide prevention with a focus on integrating “whole of community” approaches for prevention, intervention and postvention. It will include Indigenous perspectives and will discuss what is working, why, in what context, and how to build community capacity and leadership.

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International Knowledge Exchange Network for Mental Health (Vancouver, Sept. 21-22) – This match will provide the opportunity to highlight and share best and promising practices, knowledge exchange tools and techniques, implementation strategies, evaluation methods and explore how knowledge exchange is conducted in different setting and countries.

It’s Housing First, but not Housing Only (Vancouver, Sept. 21-22) – Exploring the Housing First approach for those experiencing chronic homelessness and mental health problems or illnesses. Participants will have an opportunity to see it in action as Vancouver was part of the initial research demonstration project for At Home/Chez Soi. They will explore program details, impact, and effectiveness through site visits and discussions with local Housing First leaders and clients.

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Prejudice, Discrimination and Stigma (Calgary, Sept. 21-22) – Participants at this match will present and discuss successes and challenges they have experienced in combating stigma. They will also have opportunities to visit a HEADSTRONG participating school, meet with healthcare provider researchers to discuss successful programs for stigma reduction, and speak with a Calgary Police Chief regarding the police services’ experiences with R2MR.

Psychologically Safe Workplace (Toronto, Sept. 21-22) – Hosted by the Great-West Life Centre for Mental Health in the Workplace with presentations from the MHCC, this match provides a forum for participants to share resources and strategies from around the world on creating psychologically healthy workplace, both at the organizational level and for employees with mental health problems or illnesses who are returning to work. It will also explore how to leverage knowledge to improve workplace success.

Building the Future We Want (Whistler, Sept. 27-29) – This workshop will build on the Combined Meeting theme of “Accelerating Change” by supporting emerging mental health leaders to engage other sectors in mental health leadership. The goal is for every participant to leave the workshop with a commitment to taking action within the next year and advancing both the skill development and the engagement of emerging leaders.