The Institute for Advancements in Mental Health (IAM) believes that we work best when we work together. Focusing on delivering and creating solutions with and for people living with mental health needs, our collaborative framework is rooted in innovation and fostering effective change for better outcomes for all. IAM has spent decades supporting those living with and affected by the most stigmatized mental illnesses.
Through our own in-house services, we design programs around the needs of our clients. We recognize our clients as equal partners which has resulted in the creation of useful tools, built on their documented, demonstrated needs such as:
- IAM’s Patient Toolkit – developed to improve clinical appointments for patients with psychosis and schizophrenia. In collaboration with patients and clinical partners, IAM was able to understand the opportunities and challenges pre-, during and post-appointment – and, most significantly, to build a tool to support those challenges. Patients living with psychosis have expressed value in having a physical toolkit of information and resources to help them work through appointment-related anxieties and to ask the questions they needed answers to – better supporting them to take ownership of their appointment experience.
- IAM’s Medication Resource Centre – created to provide easily accessible information on antipsychotic and other psychotropic medications available in Ontario and how to get involved to advocate for better access to medications. This resource was created and reviewed in collaboration with people living with schizophrenia, caregivers and members of IAM’s Scientific Advisory Council.
Our Innovation Platform offers innovators a path from concept to adoption, while also creating an ideal environment for diverse collaboration with people, communities, investors and leaders to help solutions thrive. Our current projects in innovation include:
- A first of its kind Mental Health Prize Challenge – in collaboration with Mental Health Research Canada. Two unique solutions were awarded prizes valued at $50,000 each to support research addressing suicide prevention by building resiliency in youth, and focusing on youth vulnerable to experiencing psychosis – which further increases suicide risk.
- IAM’s Future of Mental Health initiative – in collaboration with the Ontario College of Art and Design University CO we have explored the long-term impact of COVID-19 on the mental health of Canadians, and what this will mean at a systems level, now and into the future. The finalized report, The Future of Mental Health: A Strategic Foresight Study, is now available and IAM is preparing to take the next steps to move on its recommendations.
IAM envisions an inclusive society that helps anyone impacted by mental health issues thrive. By focusing on finding better ways of working in mental health and empowering the communities we partner and collaborate with, we know that we can make our vision our reality.
The Institute for Advancements in Mental Health is a Sponsor of Research Canada’s Parliamentary Health Research Caucus Welcome Reception and Game Changers in Health Research and Health Innovation Panel. Visit rc-rc.ca/phrc-welcome-reception-game-changers/ for more information.