From Mental Health Notes, March 2, 2006 - Canadian Mental Health Association, Ontario


TOOLKIT FOR CONSUMERS, FAMILIES AND CAREGIVERS PUBLISHED

The Canadian Collaborative Mental Health Initiative (CCMHI) has released "Working Together Towards Recovery: Consumers, Families, Caregivers and Providers," a toolkit for those affected by mental illness.

The toolkit is intended to inform consumers, families, and caregivers about mental health and mental illness, and how to access services and talk to professionals as part of the recovery process. The 80-page document also provides resources for consumers, families and caregivers in the areas of self-help, peer support and advocacy. In addition, CCMHI has included a section on complementary therapies and self-care. The focus of the toolkit is recovery, which the CCMHI defines as "living life to the fullest - despite a mental illness." A team of experts put together the toolkit, including people who have experienced mental illness, family members and caregivers.

The CCMHI's goal is to improve the mental health and well-being of Canadians by increasing collaboration among primary health care and mental health care providers, consumers, families and caregivers. This toolkit is one of 12 available from the CCMHI website. It is one of two toolkits aimed at consumers, families and caregivers; the other is a mental health guide for First Nations people. Another toolkit is meant to help educators promote collaborative care, while nine are "implementation toolkits," which are designed to help health care providers and planners pursue collaborative mental health care initiatives. For a profile of the CCMHI and how it developed all 12 toolkits, see the Winter 2006 edition of Network, CMHA, Ontario's magazine.

The Canadian Mental Health Association's National Office was a member of the working group that developed this toolkit. The working group was chaired by the Mood Disorders Society of Canada.

See "Working Together Towards Recovery: Consumers, Families, Caregivers and Providers" at www.ccmhi.ca. 
See also "In Principle and in Practice," Network (Winter 2006), at www.ontario.cmha.ca/network.



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Health Promotion Affiliate, Canadian Health Network 
www.canadian-health-network.ca
The Health Promotion Affiliate is a joint project of the Ontario Prevention Clearinghouse and the Centre for Health Promotion, University of Toronto

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