Developing strategies to improve mental health literacy is a relatively new approach to mental health promotion, particularly in Canada. Some countries, such as Australia, have been doing a great deal of work assessing the degree of mental health literacy in the population and applying social marketing approaches to enhance it. In Canada, we are lacking in the information we need to implement a national strategy for action, including critical benchmark data on the level of knowledge and awareness about mental health and mental illness among Canadians. The project has been designed to gather the information needed to implement a collaborative national strategy to improve mental health literacy in Canada.

This report represents the conclusion of the first phase of the project, which involved implementation of a project steering committee, identification of project manager and team, ratification of project purpose and activities, adoption of an evaluation plan, review of existing data, and research on MHL in Canada. The findings of the project are based on four areas of investigation:

• Preliminary exploratory focus groups with Canadian youth and seniors
• Literature review
• National survey
• Follow-up focus groups with a diversity of Canadians.

The next steps in the project involve:

• Sharing project findings and engaging with prospective partners across sectors, including existing health prevention/promotion coalitions and alliances, the media, youth, seniors, health care providers, the private sector, other NGOs, and representatives from provincial health ministries.
• A national inter-sectoral conference to identify priority items for action in the development of an integrated strategy for enhancing mental health literacy in Canada.
• Establishment of an Inter-sectoral Implementation Team to define roles and responsibilities for attaining goals and objectives, identify the resources required to implement the strategy and develop a plan for obtaining these resources.
• An Integrated National Strategy for Canada on Mental Health Literacy, which will be shared with project participants and tabled with Health Canada and the Health Council of Canada.