Minding Our Bodies Project Overview PARC Online Workshop April 18 and 19, 2011

Minding Our Bodies is…  A provincial mental health promotion program  An initiative of the CMHA Ontario  In partnership with YMCA Ontario, York University Faculty of Health, Mood Disorders Association of Ontario and the Nutrition Resource Centre  With support from the Ontario Ministry of Health Promotion through the Communities in Action Fund ( ) and Healthy Communities Fund ( )

Purpose Minding Our Bodies is designed to:  Build capacity within the community mental health system in Ontario to promote physical activity and healthy eating for people with serious mental illness to support recovery  Help mental health service providers, together with community partners, develop and deliver evidence-based programs, improve access to local resources, and promote social inclusion

Short-Term Objectives  Increased awareness of the relationship between healthy eating and mental health  Increased awareness of effective strategies for promoting healthy eating and physical activity among people with serious mental illness  Strengthened partnerships between provincial organizations interested in these issues  Increased capacity among community mental health agencies to deliver and evaluate health promotion activities  Increased inter-professional partnerships  Development of a group of trained leaders to promote healthy eating skills with people with serious mental illness

Longer-Term Objectives  More healthy eating and physical activity programs, improved food security, and access to physical activity opportunities and healthy eating options for people with serious mental illness  Greater awareness of association between chronic diseases, healthy lifestyles, mental health and mental illness throughout the broad mental health field  Development of a common culture across mental health organizations that incorporates physical activity and healthy eating promotion as core features of mental health promotion.

Project Deliverables  Environmental scan: perceived barriers, success factors, existing models  Literature review: evidence for decision makers  Online toolkit ( strategies and tools to help organizations develop effective and realistic programs (fact sheets, links to resources, documentation of successful programs, evaluation resources and a video is in the works.)  Six pilot programs ( )  Community of practice  Project evaluation

Pilot Programs: Lessons Learned  Barriers: Clothing, transportation, motivation, staff time  Gaps: Evaluation  Creative solutions: –Community Partnerships –Social Inclusion –Shift in organizational culture –Peer leadership –Evaluation working group

Community of Practice Facilitated for program leaders and other allied professionals to:  Stay connected with each other to share experience and growing expertise to support sustainability of programs  Inspire new programs among pilot organizations and other organizations  Facilitate access to expertise for questions  Platforms: –E-bulletin, listserv, teleconferences, in-person meetings and forums.

Next steps  Third phase is pending funding approval  Mental Health and Physical Activity Roundtable: May 5, 2011 Toronto, Ontario

May 5 - Roundtable Agenda On the agenda:  Connections, Barriers and Opportunities in Mental Health and Physical Activity — Keynote by University of Toronto researchers Kelly Arbour-Nicitopoulos and Paul Gorczynski.  Peer Leaders in Action — A diverse panel of program leaders will share their perspectives on the importance of including people with lived experience of mental illness in the planning and delivery of physical activity programs.  Training and Tools — Physical activity champions will present tools and approaches to encourage movement along the activity continuum.  Program Profiles — A showcase of successful program models that bridge the mental health and physical activity sectors.  Circuit Café — An interactive cross-sectoral discussion to foster new ideas for overcoming barriers and bridging accessibility gaps.  Opportunities throughout the day to weave connections for greater partnerships between physical activity and mental health groups.