The day-to-day work that takes place at CMHA Ottawa is innovative, impactful, varied and compelling. We work every day with eligible individuals in the Ottawa area who are experiencing a mental illness and/or substance use disorder, many of whom are experiencing chronic homelessness, providing evidence-informed and person-centered programs and services that empower individuals and promote good mental health.
As a community-based agency, we provide outreach services, case management, housing, counselling, specialty services, training and more. This range of services makes our organization a suitable setting for important research and evaluation projects that will make lasting contributions to the field of mental health and addictions services.
Every year, our staff and clients work with students from the University of Ottawa, Carleton University, Algonquin College, and others on a variety of research and evaluation projects and clinical practice placements. These students play a critical role in supporting our capacity to engage in research, and they perhaps represent our future mental health clinicians and researchers!
This free, virtual event will feature collaborators from various disciplines as they describe the range of projects that they worked on with CMHA Ottawa during 2023-2024 fiscal year.
OBJECTIVES:
- To illustrate why community-based mental health research is so crucial
- To highlight the purpose and use of research and evaluation in the organization
- To encourage transparency – sharing the exciting work in which CMHA Ottawa staff and clients have taken part
- To share lessons learned, opportunities for improvement, and the high quality of our services – all of which are identified and explored within these initiatives
- To share next steps; implications for practice and knowledge mobilization
- To celebrate and discuss
Attendees can expect a series of 15-minute presentations by student researchers on their respective fields of study, all within the CMHA Ottawa environment.
AGENDA:
9:30-9:45 a.m. Opening Statements
- Hosted by Donna Pettey, Director of Integration, Research & Evaluation, CMHA Ottawa
- Dr. Susan Farrell, CEO, CMHA Ottawa
- Dr. Tim Aubry, Professor, School of Psychology, University of Ottawa
- Todd Bridger, Manager of Quality Assurance & Improvement, CMHA Ottawa
9:45-10:30 a.m. Evaluation to Support Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Initiatives - Promoting Digital Health Equity Among People with Serious Mental Illness: A Community Based Participatory Needs Assessment; Kimberly Turner, Christa Masengesho Ndamage, & John Sylvestre University of Ottawa, School of Psychology
- DEI Committees at CMHA Ottawa: An evaluation of purpose, processes, and potential; Konrad Czechowski, Doctoral Candidate, Clinical Psychology, University of Ottawa and Christina Mutschler, Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Ottawa, CMHA Ottawa
- An Evaluation of CMHA Ottawa’s 55+ Intensive Case Management Program Clients; Alyssa Pozzobon, Psychology PhD student, University of Ottawa; Karen Boyd, Teresa Meulensteen, Maryann Roebuck, CMHA Ottawa; Tim Aubry, University of Ottawa
10:30-11:00 a.m. Understanding the Diverse Needs of Service Users
- Review of Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors and Outcomes of Individuals Experiencing Homelessness and Serious Mental IIllness; Nicky Akbarian, Undergraduate Medical Education (UGME), Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa
- Climate Change Considerations and Best Practices for Individuals who are Vulnerably-Housed (VH) and Experiencing Mental Health Conditions; Kwadjo Nyarko, Medical Student at uOttawa
11:00-11:45 a.m. Implementing Cutting-Edge Evaluations in Community Mental Health
- Creating and Implementing an Evaluation Framework for Recovery Colleges; Christina Mutschler, Postdoctoral Fellow, CMHA Ottawa, University of Ottawa & Rebecca Rutland, Peer Support Worker, CMHA Ottawa
- Community Building with Housing First Clients: A Developmental Evaluation; Élyse McCall-Thomas, PhD student, Faculty of Education, University of Ottawa & Alathea Hayes, MA student in Public Health at University of Waterloo
- Evaluating the hospital service use outcomes of a community mental health program for frequent emergency department users; Jonathan Samosh, Clinical Psychology PhD Student, University of Ottawa
11:45-11:50am Knowledge Translation of Housing First
- How Housing First Works mini-documentary; Nathan Fung, Simon Hopkins; Senior undergraduate students at the Carleton University School of Journalism and Communication; & Patrick Jodoin, Manager, Communications and Stakeholder Relations, CMHA Ottawa
11:50 a.m.-12:00 p.m. Current and Upcoming Research Projects with Maryann Roebuck, Director of Integration, Research & Evaluation, CMHA Ottawa
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Check out the 2022-2023 edition for a taste of what to expect!
Presented as part of CMHA Mental Health Week #CompassionConnects
