Understanding the Role of Self-care in a Community Mental Health Recovery College

As Hamilton, Ontario endures a proliferating mental health crisis, community mental health agencies are struggling to deliver care to everyone who needs it. This project involves intern Loa Gordon partnering with the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) Hamilton branch to develop, implement, and assess an evidence-based self-care curriculum that will be offered to CMHA Hamilton clients and staff. The curriculum will help advance the agency’s new Recovery College, which provides self-directed, resilience building educational curriculum offerings to the community. This self-care course will be generated through co-design alongside peer support workers as well as people with lived and living mental health experience. Date collection methods will involve a blend of ethnographic fieldwork and open-ended interviewing, both one-on-one and in focus groups. This study seeks to narrow the gap between mental health care needs and services for Canadians, while increasing the capacity for community mental health agencies like CMHA Hamilton to deliver critical care to those who need it most. Moreover, the study will elucidate new insights on how self-directed forms of care operate within people’s lives and their journeys toward recovery.

Faculty Supervisor:

James Gillett

Student:

Partner:

Canadian Mental Health Association (Hamilton)

Discipline:

Sociology

Sector:

Health and Related Sciences & Technology; Information and cultural industries

University:

McMaster University

Program: