Policy informed practice: public health involvement in mental health promotion in BC Population Mental Health and Wellness Promotion Forum March 1, 2018 Stephen Smith, A/Executive Director Healthy Living and Health Promotion Branch BC Ministry of Health

Declaration of real or potential conflicts of interest Presenter: Stephen Smith I have no real or potential conflict of interest related to the material that is being presented today. Ce webinaire est accrédité par l'École de santé publique de l'Université de Montréal. De ce fait, je dois déclarer mes conflits d’intérêt.

Two Examples Core Public Health Program – Mental Health Promotion and Prevention of Mental Disorders Healthy Minds, Healthy People: a Ten-year plan to address mental health and substance use in British Columbia

Core Public Health Programs in BC Fell within one of four broad categories: Health improvement programs Disease, injury and disability prevention programs Environmental health programs Health emergency management programs Were defined and advanced within 21 core program papers and corresponding evidence reviews Papers developed by BC Health Authorities and Ministry of Health

Mental Health Promotion and Prevention of Mental Disorders Released in 2009 Built on two extensive evidence reviews Defined the agreed-upon components of a model core program in this domain Engaged system stakeholders in public health and MHSU

Major Program Components Mental health promotion (for all ages) Mental health promotion/mental disorders prevention across the lifecourse Reduction of discrimination and stigma Surveillance, monitoring and program evaluation

Approach to Implementation Address all the core programs (can cluster them together for planning and implementation in any means that works) Develop a performance improvement plan for each program or cluster of programs that contains the following components: Planning context Baseline needs assessment / gap analysis Performance targets and justification if no change is indicated Key strategies, including initiatives, resources, etc. Reporting process Make the plan public and provide public progress reports

Cross-Government MHSU Plan Released in 2010 Cross-governmental, multi-system Expanded traditional response to mental illness & addictions to include: promoting positive mental health preventing problems before they occur intervening earlier when they do Intended to offset the future burden of problems Strong emphasis on needs of children, youth and families Corresponding focus on key settings

Inputs Reviews of best available evidence Minister-convened stakeholder workshops to shape direction Input from academics, experts and general public 6-month sector & region-specific consultations i.e. youth, justice sector, unions Aboriginal reference group

Direction to various sectors/stakeholders 3 Goals: Improve the mental health and well-being of the population Improve the quality and accessibility of services for people with mental health and substance use problems Reduce the economic costs to the public and private sectors resulting from mental health and substance use problems Total of 63 strategic actions across four population groupings (33 ‘upstream’ in nature) 6 ‘Milestones for Achievement’

Approach to Implementation Limited direction – stakeholders left to assess opportunities and respond accordingly Support to various stakeholders through a small Directorate (3FTE) Multi-ministry ADM committee for first 3 years Annual progress reporting Intention to develop a corresponding evaluation plan and coordinate a research agenda

Lessons Learned Implementation planning and direction required inclusive of accountabilities Central supports need to be well-resourced and sustained Progress reporting needs to surface and highlight gaps and challenges Explicit expectations are necessary Evaluation planning should happen concurrently so that it may commence with implementation Local leadership is a critical resource

Thank you stephen.smith@gov.bc.ca