Created by the Canadian Mental Health Association – Alberta Division
“To make mental health matter in Alberta, it takes all of us. This toolkit was developed to help anyone advocate for better mental health in their communities. Individuals, organizations, non-profits, government officials and advocates will find this toolkit useful in demonstrating the importance of positive mental health in Alberta. Whether you are interested in improving mental health in your home, workplace or school, or you have a vision of mentally healthy communities everywhere, this toolkit will help you make mental health matter. This toolkit has been designed to give you a quick summary of important mental health issues, research that supports it, solutions to the challenges, and examples of projects that help impact that particular issue. You can use the entire toolkit, or pick and choose topics that are important to you.
Use the information provided to help localize your concerns and advocate for mental health in municipal, provincial and federal elections. Remember to identify the issue you want support on, like housing, support for families and caregivers, access to treatment or any other important topic; identify something that is working well–like a pilot program, evidence or approach used by other jurisdictions; and make your request specific. You can use the information provided to make mental health a priority where you live, work, play and pray.
To help you advocate for mental health, you can download CMHA’s Localize your Concerns worksheet at www.alberta.cmha.ca/localizeyourconcerns.”