Truth and Reconciliation IS
Mental Health Promotion
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Mental health promotion is defined by its focus on structural determinants of (mental) health and, therefore, must play a central role in fostering healing of individuals, communities and a nation from past and present harms done to Canada’s Indigenous Peoples. The Public Health Agency of Canada Mental Health Promotion Innovation Fund (MHP-IF) is a federal program that actively seeks to remove structural barriers to health equity and cultural safety, mainly by funding diverse projects (20 currently) across Canada. Even a quick skim of project Infographics shows how MHP-IF teams are aiming to achieve these goals, including a prominent focus on Indigenous cultural safety. Ten MHP-IF projects engage Indigenous communities (e.g., Anishinaabe, Inuit, Métis, Mi’kmaq, urban and rural Indigenous Peoples) in 10 provinces and territories. Three projects are Indigenous-led: Fostering Open eXpression among Youth (FOXY), The Cedar Path, and Innusirvik Community Wellness Hub. In this Hub Update, we’re pleased to contribute to what we hope are growing conversations and actions toward Truth and Reconciliation in Canada.
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Recent highlights
Full summer suite of tools
The summer surge of Hub-developed tools has culminated with the September release of the final Hub tool in this set and right on point with the theme of this Hub Update. The tool is an Indigenous inclusion lens for mental health promotion and featured in the Spotlight below. Over the past few months, the Hub released 10 tools – each with a different focus – to fill the most relevant and timely gaps for supporting child and youth mental health promotion efforts of the 20 MHP-IF projects and any others with similar interests. We encourage you to take a look at our list of resources for the full set of Hub-developed tools and to feel free to reach out with any thoughts or questions on them, especially how the Hub can support their use.
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Hub-led workshop at the Atlantic Summer Institute 2021
The KDE Hub was invited to host a workshop at the Atlantic Summer Institute (ASI) 2021, entitled The Great Reconnect: Building Personal, Community and Societal Resilience for our Post COVID-19 World. Speakers included Hub team members and members from 5 MHP-IF projects with intervention sites in the Atlantic provinces. The objective was to share findings from the pandemic adaptation stories from all 20 MHP-IF projects across Canada, spotlight Atlantic experiences, and engage participants in exploring how these findings can help guide their own and others’ efforts to strengthen resilience at personal, community and system levels. See our workshop Event Brief for more information.
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Members from the Hub Secretariat and 5 MHP-IF projects shared pandemic adaptation stories at the Atlantic Summer Institute 2021.
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Looking ahead
KDE Hub 2nd Annual Symposium – Mark your calendars!
The 2022 event will take place virtually on February 16-18 and will focus on a growth phase for mental health promotion in Canada. Informed by interest in the event last year, the 2022 event will be open and at no cost to participants. The Hub’s invitation remains open for anyone who may wish to help shape this event. Please contact us at kdehub@uwaterloo.ca to express your interest and stay tuned for more event details in the coming months.
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Pandemic adaptation stories from MHP-IF projects – to be continued….
In the past year, interest was high and insights were rich from the Hub’s first cross-project study on pandemic adaptations by MHP-IF projects. A year ago, each of the 20 projects generously participated in a one-hour conversation about their experiences in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. The most recent sharing of results is in the Hub tool on practice guidance from MHP-IF project pandemic adaptations. Thank you to MHP-IF projects for helping to create new, relevant and timely knowledge for advancing mental health promotion in Canada. And thank you in advance for considering an upcoming invitation to have a follow-up conversation with the Hub this Fall. Your evolving stories and reflections on main lessons from phase 1 of the MHP-IF will build on the initial findings.
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Sharing new knowledge from the MHP-IF
One niche role for the Hub is creating new knowledge from the MHP-IF. The Hub’s efforts complement those of projects with an emphasis on sharing insights from across projects and wherever possible in collaboration with MHP-IF projects. The workshop at the Atlantic Summer Institute 2021 described above is one recent example. An upcoming event is a panel presentation at the Canadian Public Health Association Conference 2021. The Hub is coordinating this session on behalf of the Public Health Agency of Canada and co-presenting with MHP-IF projects on their experiences and insights from their pandemic adaptations.
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The Hub and members from MHP-IF project teams will be presenting at the Canadian Public Health Association Conference 2021.
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Regular Hub webinars return
The Hub webinar series will resume with monthly webinars in October, November and December. While most webinars are by invitation to the MHP-IF projects, Hub-prepared Event Briefs from all webinars are publicly available and select webinars are open. Stay tuned to our Hub Updates and Upcoming Events on our website for opportunities to participate in webinars. Topics this fall include strategies for youth engagement and co-design for the Hub’s 2022 Annual Symposium.
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Earlier this month young Canadians returned to school and the end of the month brings The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. These hallmarks of September are evident in many current resources and events from the field of child and youth mental health promotion. Here are a few items of possible interest:
- The National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation and partners offer a virtual event open to all Canadian schools (grades 5-12) and the public. Each day of Truth and Reconciliation Week, videos will be available. These have been created by Indigenous storytellers, to share traditional ceremonies and artistic performances, alongside conversations with Elders and knowledge keepers, Survivors, and children of Survivors of residential schools.
- Canada’s first State of the Youth Report, highlights the challenges and opportunities that youth face, in their own words. Topics include truth and reconciliation as well as health and wellness.
- The Centre for Indigegogy offers training programs and workshops on decolonizing education, wholistic healing practices and Indigenous research.
- This recently released report from the Royal Society of Canada, Children and Schools during COVID-19 and Beyond: Engagement and Connection Through Opportunity, provides evidence-informed perspectives and recommendations for policy.
- Frayme hosts a repository of Back to School Resources for Youth Mental Health and Substance Use. It includes, for example, School Mental Health Ontario’s Mentally Health Back to School Support Package with practical resources to promote and protect mental health at school.
- A recent paper offers evidence and consensus informed guidance on adapting interventions for new contexts.
Let us know if there are new resources, events or research you would like us to share. We love to hear from you: kdehub@uwaterloo.ca.
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Hub Spotlight: An Indigenous Inclusion Lens for Mental Health Promotion
Truth and Reconciliation takes awareness, education, reflection and informed actions, all of which can be supported by the Hub’s final tool in our summer 2021 suite – An Indigenous Inclusion Lens for Mental Health Promotion. Authored by Dr. Kathy Absolon, the tool offers guiding questions related to spirit, heart, mental and physical elements – questions that may nudge, may challenge and will support individuals and teams move toward inclusion of Indigenous voices and knowledge in ways that are respectful and culturally appropriate. This and all other Hub-developed tools are available in the resource section of the Hub website.
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The Knowledge Development and Exchange Hub is dedicated to advancing child and youth mental health promotion in Canada. Our niche is supporting projects funded through the Mental Health Promotion Innovation Fund and others with shared interests. Learn more at kdehub.ca. |
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