PROJECT OVERVIEW
The Mental Health Promotion in Immigrant and Refugee Serving Organizations Project is funded by Immigration Refugee Citizenship Canada (IRCC) through the Settlement Program Service Delivery Improvements Funding (SDI) Stream. As the lead organization on this project, OCASI is partnering with community organizations across three sectors (immigrant and refugee serving organizations, primary health, and community mental health) to carry out the project over three years (2018 – 2021).
The project's overall goal is to build the capacity of newcomer and refugee services to promote mental health and newcomer wellbeing, and respond to mental health issues. The project aims to strengthen collaborations and partnerships between newcomer and refugee serving organizations, primary health, and mental health sectors through the development of a service model for mental health promotion.
Project activities will be carried out in three phases: 1) Needs assessment and environmental scan to develop a better understanding of service user and service provider needs and experiences; 2) Capacity building and service model design to promote mental health, enhance collaborations, and improve access to services; and 3) Scale up and dissemination of lessons learned through the development and pilot phase of the service model for mental health promotion. Expected project outcomes include:
- enhanced engagement of new and existing partners
- improved organizational capacity to promote mental health and to respond to mental health issues
- the development of an innovative service delivery model of mental health promotion
PROJECT ACTIVITIES
Phase I: Needs assessment and environmental scan to develop a better understanding of service user and service provider needs and experiences;
Phase II: Capacity building and service model design to promote mental health, enhance collaborations, and improve access to services; and
Phase III: Scale up and dissemination of lessons learned through the development and pilot phase of the service model for mental health promotion