A multitude of
factors contribute to making a community what it is. Mental
health promotion projects respond to the unique circumstances
and assets of a certain community at a given point in time;
the conditions that give rise to a particular approach in
one community would not necessarily exist in another.
That's why mental
health promotion projects cannot simply be replicated for
use in other communities. It's not possible to create a blue
print or template for mental health promotion that can be
lifted from one community and applied to another to achieve
the same result. Attempting to do so would not only stifle
the unique local citizen creativity that exists in each place,
but would also threaten to turn authentic mental health promotion
initiatives into more generic, service-oriented programs.
Because each community
contains such a unique mixture of assets, resources and problems,
efforts to improve the mental health of local citizens need
to be generated from within. Instead of trying to replicate
mental health promotion initiatives, we need to stimulate
the development of unique initiatives across Canada that encourage
people and communities to have a greater sense of control,
and that provide support to people in dealing with the ups
and downs of life.
For these reasons
we don’t refer to this resource book as a manual or guide,
but as a tool kit - a place where people can find useful examples
and tips about the ways that several communities responded
to the challenge of promoting the mental health of their citizens.
The kit is built around a straightforward planning
model, and contains information on many relevant topics,
such as effective facilitation, and soliciting in-kind support.
There are also a number of practical tools, such as a sample
funding proposal and evaluation plans that were used successfully
in the selected projects.
We hope the stories
in the kit, as well as the planning steps and tools will help
to stimulate new ideas about ways to promote mental health
in your community.
Who
is the Tool Kit for? >
