The Project that Launched SEMH

SEMH was grew from a research project funded by the University of Ottawa Population Health Improvement Research Network. In this project we assembled and led a committee composed of recognized leaders in service provision among Aboriginal, LGBTQ, immigrant, refugee, and homeless persons to determine the programs and organizations in Toronto that have broken new ground in conceptualizing and developing mental health services in each of these sectors. Working with this committee, we engaged in an intensive search process to identify exemplary organizations and chose five such organizations to participate in an in-depth analysis of their work. Case studies were then completed with each of these organizations to identify factors that have been critical to their success.

This project culminated in the Knowledge Transfer event held at the Toronto MaRS Discovery District on March 3, 2011 with the release of Learning from the Groundbreakers: Models of Innovation in Addressing Mental Health Equity in Toronto (PDF).
 

SEMH roadmaps for providers and decision makers

Based on our own research and reviews of the social entrepreneurship and service implementation literatures SEMH has compiled two roadmaps for service providers and decision makers. They have been designed to help providers develop stronger services within a social entrepreneurship framework and assist decision makers with identifying criteria that characterize service providers who are likely to have the greatest impacts on mental health disparities.