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Home » Public Policy » Page 15

Public Policy

The Canadian Mental Health Association is the only association in Canada that addresses all aspects of mental health and mental illness. We promote and advocate through strong connections we forge with policymakers, mental health consumers and their families, educators, the media, stakeholders and other service providers.

CMHA’s National office influences public policy at the federal level with a multi-faceted approach that includes strengthening our relationship with government officials and politicians. In addition, we focus on the ongoing submission of briefs and presentations to Standing Committees on Finance, Health, Human Resources Development, Justice and others.

CMHA Policy Statements articulate the general principles and recommendations relating to a particular issue which are endorsed by the CMHA.

A Focus on Women

This document by the World Health Organization was created to stimulate discussion and action around women’s mental health. Contains sections examining the importance of developing policies which protect and promote women’s mental health.  Read the full document here.Continue readingA Focus on Women

Informed Consent to Treatment

The Canadian Mental Health Association believes that people who may need mental health care deserve the full range of informed choices surrounding the best possible care. This includes the choice to reject treatment. Self-help options and informal personal supports may complement or supplant the full range of formal psychosocial and medical treatments, in accordance with […]Continue readingInformed Consent to Treatment

Cross Cultural Mental Health

Canada has a long tradition of opening its doors to people from all over the world. Since the second world war, significant demographic changes have occurred in this country. Since the 1970’s, the Canadian immigrant population has shifted from mainly European immigration to people from Asia and Africa. The immigrants and refugees arriving in Canada […]Continue readingCross Cultural Mental Health

Mental Health and Violence Against Women and Children

Violence is not somebody else’s problem, it is everyone’s. Violence permeates Canadian society, in the home, in the workplace, in sport, in schools, in religious institutions, and in the media. Each of us must take responsibility for the values, beliefs and institutions in our society that permit violence to happen. Individually and collectively, we must […]Continue readingMental Health and Violence Against Women and Children

Mental Health and Unemployment

Since work is an essential part of participation in society, the loss of paid employment can have serious psychosocial, as well as economic, effects. In setting forth this policy statement, the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) recognizes that access to meaningful paid employment is a basic human right. In a fair and equitable nation, social […]Continue readingMental Health and Unemployment

Community Reinvestment

Individuals need support from the community to assume greater control over their own lives, and to utilize the resources within their natural environment. Equally important is the deepening and strengthening of the community’s capacity to respond to people who have previously been rejected.  In many cases, people with severe mental health problems are struggling for […]Continue readingCommunity Reinvestment

Consumer Involvement: Beyond Tokenism

Within CMHA, “consumers” have been defined as “people with direct experience of significant mental health problems who have used the resources available from the mental health system.” Many persons who volunteer or work in the CMHA or mental health system and the community have suffered from mental illness. However, for a variety of reasons, people […]Continue readingConsumer Involvement: Beyond Tokenism

Housing for Persons with Mental Disabilities

A home is the base from which we have the security to build our lives as we choose. We should be able to choose where to live, whom to see, and how to behave in our home. In our home we should have the privacy to reflect and relax in peace. We should have the […]Continue readingHousing for Persons with Mental Disabilities