Better Together
Quality Mental Health Care Network
Reimagining access to services, reclaiming hope in the face of loss; every aspect of our work is enriched and informed by the wisdom of expertise.
What is the network?
Co-led by HealthCareCAN and the Mental Health Commission of Canada, the Quality Mental Health Care Network (QMHCN), established in 2019, unites health-sector leaders from across the country to help improve access to quality mental health care, including stigma reduction, support recovery oriented practices and promote the psychological health and safety of health care workers.
The QMHCN builds on the work of the former By Health, For Health collaborative, a group of 20 health-care organizations committed to providing psychologically healthy and safe work environments in health care.
What the network is doing?
The network recently revised the Quality Mental Health Care Framework, a key tool in the development of leading practices in quality mental health care in Canada.
The revised framework focuses on putting the patient at the centre of each dimension of quality mental health care and defines what quality mental health care looks like from the patient’s point of view. The updated framework promotes a clearer understanding and synthesis of the quality care dimensions and aims to better represent the vision of high-quality care for everyone.
Developed with input from health-care professionals and people with lived and living experience of mental health problems or illnesses and/or substance use (PWLLE), the framework supports recovery-oriented practice, addresses stigma, and improves access to quality mental health care.
An infographic has been developed that provides a description of the framework’s eight dimensions, which can be used to fuse efforts to address quality mental health care for patients and providers alike. The framework focuses on putting the patient at the centre of quality mental health care and is structured around their perspective.
An implementation toolkit will be released in August 2025 to guide health-care organizations in Canada in applying the Quality Mental Health Care Framework and its dimensions in their organizational practice. The toolkit has been developed to support health-care providers, PWLLE, administrators, health-care policy advisors, and decision makers in health-care organizations. It will assist users to embed quality mental health care practices into their unique workplace environment. To receive the Quality Mental Health Care Framework Implementation Toolkit when it is released, please visit: Implementation Toolkit – Mental Health Commission of Canada
A PowerPoint overview of the Quality Mental Health Care Framework has been developed to help raise awareness within organizations and get buy-in to implement it. It includes links to resources that can assist users in bringing the framework’s eight dimensions to life.
Webinars
Please note that these webinars make reference to the original Quality Mental Health Care Framework and its 10 dimensions. Although out of date, these webinars provide a valuable overview on quality mental health care. A new webinar is scheduled for October 2025 to launch the revised framework and its implementation toolkit.
In Reducing structural stigma in health-care settings, the Mental Health Commission of Canada and the Ontario Network of CAPC/CPNP Projects (Canadian Action Program for Children and the Canada Prenatal Nutrition Program) focus on identifying structural stigma in various health-care settings and learning successful strategies, tools, and principles to dismantle it.
In A Vision Quality Mental Health Care for All, Quality Mental Health Care Network health leaders discuss their vision – based on the Quality Mental Health Care Framework – for improving the quality of mental health care for both service users and health-care workers.
In Toward Quality Mental Health Care: Dismantling Structural Stigma, health-care experts explore the stigma-free and inclusive dimension of the Quality Mental Health Care Framework, focusing on the crucial concept of structural stigma.
A Vision for Quality Mental Health Care for All
Please note that these webinars make reference to the original Quality Mental Health Care Framework and its 10 dimensions. Although out of date, these webinars provide a valuable overview on quality mental health care.A brief video about an individual’s overwhelming journey to access quality mental health care. Learn how you and your organization can improve the experience for all. Explore the Quality Mental Health Care Framework’s 10 quality of care dimensions — for patients and providers alike.
A document that provides an overview of the QMHCN, the development of the framework, and the components of quality mental health care.
“The Quality Mental Health Care Network: A Roadmap to Improving Quality Mental Healthcare in Canada,” published by Healthcare Management Forum in January 2021, discusses findings from the scan, interviews, and focus groups used to develop the framework.