Download it now: Bright Ideas 2024 Proceedings Report + Video Recording

Dec 12, 2024

Report takes in-depth look at research and evaluation activities undertaken at the Canadian Mental Health Association, Ottawa Branch (CMHA Ottawa), making profound contributions to quality improvement in community mental health

Innovation and progress happen when our clients, peer advisors, frontline staff and management roll up their sleeves and set to work with post-secondary students. 

Research and evaluation play a vital role in our capacity to deliver evidence-informed and person-centred programs and services. They’re also a source of empowerment for the people we serve, ensuring their voices are heard and feedback is acted upon. 

As a leader in research and evaluation in community-based mental health, housing, and substance use healthcare, we’re continuously advancing the quality of our programs and services, and overall sector. 

Check out the proceedings report and video recording of our Bright Ideas 2024 webinar: a round-up of the research and evaluation activities undertaken at CMHA Ottawa over the past year, and be inspired. It features collaborators from various disciplines as they describe the range of projects they worked on during the 2023-2024 fiscal year at CMHA Ottawa.

Download the Bright Ideas 2024 Proceedings Report (PDF)

Watch the video recording of the webinar on YouTube

About Bright Ideas 2024:

Every year, we highlight recent research and evaluation activities in a round-up event called Bright Ideas. Led by our Decision Support and Accountability Team (DSAT), the Bright Ideas webinar illustrates the important role of research and evaluation in delivering vital community-based mental health and substance use healthcare programs and services.

The 2024 edition featured 12 presentations in three areas of focus:

• Research and Evaluation of Cutting-Edge Interventions
• Understanding the Needs of Service Users
• Implementing Services That Work.

Topics included:

• An Examination of the Effectiveness of Smoking Cessation Treatment Interventions for Individuals with Severe Mental Illness
• Community Mental Health Services for Frequent Emergency Department Users: Qualitative Outcomes
• Needs Assessment for Discharge Planning from Intensive Case Management (ICM) Services
• ICM Length of Time in Service: Characteristics of People in ICM Longer Than Five Years
• Fresh Veggies for Clients of CMHA Ottawa
• CMHA Ottawa’s Recovery College Pilot Program: A Formative Evaluation
• Developing an Organizational Culture of Supervision in Community-Based Mental Health
• Many more

Research and evaluation are critically important in the field of community-based mental health and substance use healthcare. At CMHA Ottawa, we are proud to participate in these initiatives and implement their findings, as we strive to understand and best serve the communities in which we live.

Special thanks to the students and faculty at the University of Ottawa, Carleton University, and the University of Waterloo.

The Canadian Mental Health Association, Ottawa Branch (CMHA Ottawa), is an independent, community-based non-profit organization that provides services for eligible individuals in the Ottawa area with severe and persistent mental illness and/or substance use disorder, many of whom are experiencing chronic homelessness or are vulnerably housed. CMHA Ottawa is dedicated to promoting good mental health, developing and implementing sustainable support systems and services, and encouraging public action to strengthen community mental health services and related policies and legislation.

For media inquiries:
Patrick Jodoin, Manager, Communications and Stakeholder Relations
CMHA Ottawa
613-737-7791 ext. 135 [email protected]