{"id":719,"date":"2017-07-25T16:54:00","date_gmt":"2017-07-25T20:54:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mentalhealthcommission.ca\/?post_type=resource&#038;p=719"},"modified":"2025-09-02T13:53:55","modified_gmt":"2025-09-02T17:53:55","slug":"addressing-the-access-gap-leveraging-the-potential-of-e-mental-health-in-canada","status":"publish","type":"resource","link":"https:\/\/mentalhealthcommission.ca\/resource\/addressing-the-access-gap-leveraging-the-potential-of-e-mental-health-in-canada\/","title":{"rendered":"Addressing the Access Gap: Leveraging the Potential of e-Mental Health in Canada"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-this-resource-was-published-in-2017-the-data-may-be-out-of-date\"><em>This resource was published in 2017. The data may be out of date.<\/em><\/h5>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-summary\">Summary<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Canada faces a \u201ccrisis of access\u201d when it comes to mental health services, in part because as stigma recedes more people are seeking care. e-Mental health could play an important role in breaking up this logjam by extending reach, spawning additional access points and promoting higher quality care. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To explore how e-Mental health technologies can be leveraged, the Mental Health Commission of Canada (MHCC) hosted a roundtable meeting in Vancouver on January 27, 2017. Policy makers, organizational leaders, people with lived experience and researchers from across Canada, along with a panel of international experts, came together to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Increase awareness of the latest evidence on the effectiveness\/efficacy of e-health solutions in improving access to mental health care;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Identify and examine existing models of e-Mental health that have been implemented in Canada and internationally;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Identify and discuss barriers and facilitators to the adoption and implementation of e-Mental health approaches to improve access to services; and<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Explore recommendations to support the development, implementation and evaluation of current and\/or future opportunities in e-Mental health.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-key-findings\">Key Findings<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The following emerged from the roundtable as clear principles for future action on e-Mental health:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Person-led is the way forward<\/strong>. This is important both in partnering with users who will be using the services in order to design them and in giving people control over their own data.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>The digital divide must be addressed<\/strong>. Those unable to access the requisite technology and services\u2014or who lack the skills or knowledge needed to take advantage of e-Mental health solutions\u2014will be left out.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>e<strong>-Mental health is integral to improving access<\/strong>. While there are no \u201cmagic bullets\u201d, e-Mental health solutions provide the opportunity to increase access to services and help relieve Canada\u2019s overburdened mental health care system.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Innovation requires some tolerance for risk<\/strong>. Evidence of effectiveness is important to guiding mental health system decisions, but traditional methods of evidencegathering can be too slow or inexact for e-Mental health. A model more suited to technological solutions should be used, such as one that generates data through continuous quality improvement or ongoing program evaluations.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>We need coordination<\/strong>. There is a desire to proliferate e-Mental health solutions, but nothing will get done without a coordinated effort. Teamwork, partnerships and formalized strategies for e-Mental health are essential.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Strong leadership is key<\/strong>. e-Mental health needs champions among practitioners, government and people with lived experience. Inspiring people to take up the cause requires increasing the visibility of e-Mental health and the evidence supporting it.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Tech is borderless; collaboration should be, too<\/strong>. We need to look globally to see what works\u2014and share our information internationally.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Ultimately, it is about system change<\/strong>. Rather than an add-on to the status quo, e-Mental health is and should be seen as an enabler of system change.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This resource was published in 2017. The data may be out of date. Summary Canada faces a \u201ccrisis of access\u201d when it comes to mental health services, in part because as stigma recedes more people are seeking care. e-Mental health could play an important role in breaking up this logjam by extending reach, spawning additional&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":58528,"parent":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[808,188],"tags":[],"program":[],"program-area":[29],"audience":[124],"covid-hub-category":[],"health-canada":[832],"class_list":["post-719","resource","type-resource","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-public-resources","category-reports","program-area-e-mental-health","audience-policy-research","health-canada-ementalhealth"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.3 (Yoast SEO v28.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Addressing the Access Gap: Leveraging the Potential of e-Mental Health in Canada - Mental Health Commission of Canada<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"This resource was published in 2017. The data may be out of date. Summary Canada faces a \u201ccrisis of access\u201d when it comes to mental health services, in\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/mentalhealthcommission.ca\/resource\/addressing-the-access-gap-leveraging-the-potential-of-e-mental-health-in-canada\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Addressing the Access Gap: Leveraging the Potential of e-Mental Health in Canada\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This resource was published in 2017. The data may be out of date. 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