Recent highlights
We are growing!
Established in 2019 to support projects funded through the Mental Health Promotion Innovation Fund (MHP-IF), the KDE Hub has built capacity for supporting federal initiatives with multiple projects and with a focus on mental health promotion and mental illness prevention. In response to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of Canadians, the Public Health Agency of Canada is administering the Supporting the Mental Health of those Most Affected by COVID-19 initiative which will fund more than thirty projects from coast to coast to coast. It also includes an expansion of the KDE Hub to support these projects. The KDE Hub will maintain a focus on mental health promotion for children and youth while extending our attention to the mental health of all Canadians and, as always, with health equity at the forefront. This is an exciting time of growth for the field of mental health promotion in Canada and we are grateful to be part of this effort. Learn more about this new program and the expansion of the KDE Hub.
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New faces at the KDE Hub
With the growth of the project community comes the growth of the Hub team. The KDE Hub has been privileged to welcome colleagues with expertise in evaluation, research, implementation, knowledge mobilization and project management. Learn more about them on the Our Team page of the KDE Hub website.
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New KDE Hub video released
The KDE Hub has new leadership, an expanded team and a broader mandate, so it was time to freshen up our introductory video! In under 3-minutes, you can learn all the basics of the KDE Hub.
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Welcoming new projects
Congratulations to the projects receiving funding through Supporting the Mental Health of those Most Affected by COVID-19 (MH COVID)! Starting this month, the KDE Hub is hosting welcome webinars for MH COVID project teams. This is an opportunity for project teams to introduce themselves and their work, get familiar with the people and purpose of the KDE Hub, and meet team members from other projects. Invitations are being sent to MH COVID projects and you can always reach out to us at kdehub@uwaterloo.ca. We are enjoying getting to know you!
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Theory of change webinar series
This fall, the KDE Hub led a series of workshops to support MHP-IF projects in their development of a theory of change. The September workshop provided an overview of theories of change and engaged participants in discussions that identified gaps and potential challenges while creating a theory of change tailored to the needs of a project. The October workshop focused on mapping project activities, outcomes, and impacts. The final workshop on November 16 provided opportunity for project sharing and considered diverse evaluation methods applicable to mental health promotion interventions. Materials related to this series, including recordings of the presentation portions of the webinars, are available:
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Looking Ahead
2023 Annual Symposium: Save the Date
Registration for the KDE Hub’s 2023 Annual Symposium is coming soon! Please join us February 28 and March 1, 2023 as we focus on how to take advantage of the growing momentum for addressing the determinants of mental health. We are seeing many shifts in approaches to mental health with growing attention on wellness, cultural wisdom, upstream systems, climate impacts and equity. At this event we aim to learn about windows of opportunity, leveraging change, and advancing mental health promotion in Canada.
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MHP-IF Project Community Webinar
MHP-IF project team members have been invited to an interactive webinar on November 30 to seek input on the 2023 Annual Symposium and other Hub supports for Phase 2. The Hub team will also share highlights from the recently completed MHP-IF Project Community Survey. Learn more about this project community.
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Rapid Reviews
One of the KDE Hub’s core commitments is to seek existing leadership and wisdom relevant to mental health promotion; a key activity is curation of the latest research and developments in the field. To these ends, we’ve been conducting several reviews of evidence from peer-reviewed and grey literature relating to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of Canadians, the impacts of racism on the mental health of Canadians, measuring mental health in the early years, and how to support communities of practice. We look forward to sharing new Hub supports based on these reviews in the coming months.
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- FRAYME has launched the Great Big Stories: Two-Eyed Seeing Grant, a funding opportunity for First Nations, Métis, and Inuit-led youth-serving organizations or groups designing or implementing mental health initiatives that are working towards the decolonization of services through a two-eyed seeing approach.
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This year's Chief Public Health Officer of Canada's annual report underlines the role public health systems have in navigating climate-health action. Alongside this report is a companion document providing an overview of research and knowledge generation opportunities for advancing action on public health and climate change.
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The National Collaborating Centre for Determinants of Health has launched Mind the Disruption, a new podcast exploring what it looks like to challenge the status quo for health equity.
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The Knowledge Institute on Child and Youth Mental Health and Addictions released a new report providing an overview of adapting evidence-based programs to consider cultural context and offers recommendations for developing, scaling, or implementing culturally responsive programs.
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Raising Canada released their 2022 report examining the top ten threats to childhood in Canada. Findings highlight a disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on equity-deserving children and youth.
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The Human Early Learning Partnership released a report with data from the Childhood Experiences Questionnaire (CHEQ) examining the impacts of COVID-19 on pre-kindergarten aged children in British Columbia.
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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The Supporting Transition Resilience of Newcomer Groups (STRONG) project focuses on supporting the transition of children and youth as they navigate complex migration and settlement journeys. This school- and community-based intervention bolsters resilience and coping skills. While STRONG has been developed and is being evaluated for newcomers to Canada, there is already a recognized need for it in other parts of the world. Recently, Dr. Claire Crooks, director of the Centre for School Mental Health at Western University and lead of the STRONG project, travelled to the Czech Republic to provide training in STRONG. Here she helped to train Ukrainian psychologists who have fled Ukraine along with many children and youth impacted by war. You can learn more about STRONG through this news story, at kdehub.ca, on the STRONG website and by watching the video below.
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The Knowledge Development and Exchange Hub is dedicated to optimal mental health promotion across Canada. Our niche is supporting projects funded through federal mental health promotion programs and a broader community with shared interests. Learn more at kdehub.ca. |
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