What’s Our Reach? CCSMH Resources are Mobilized!
Have you ever wondered if the work you do is making the impact that you hope it does? Yes, we did too…
For those supporting the mental health of older adults, impact can sometimes be hard to see. Progress is often gradual. Change happens in small steps. Much of the most meaningful work is carried out quietly, in everyday interactions that don’t always feel measurable.
And yet, these daily efforts matter.
To better understand if our work is making an impact, we asked Baycrest Academy for Research and Education to do a scan to find out how far and wide the CCSMH reach has been over the years.
While we have heard a lot of anecdotes about how our guidelines, pocket cards, brochures and other resources have been used, it was gratifying to learn about the breadth and depth of our impact.
What the scan revealed is that CCSMH resources don’t simply exist—they move.
They are shared, taught, adapted, and embedded in the places where care is delivered, where learning happens, and where policy and systems evolve. Over our 23 years, the knowledge generated through CCSMH has been taken up across Canada and beyond, often in ways that are invisible to those who helped create it. And that’s kinda the point, isn’t it?
Our reach shows up in many forms:
~ Our clinical guidelines have or are informing the guideline work and clinical practice of other countries like Ireland and Australia extending the reach of our messages and evidence to the international stage.
~ Colleges of regulated health professionals (e.g., medicine, nursing) list our guidelines in their exam preparation packages, training and professional development strengthening the field’s capacity to support the mental health of older adults.
~ Professors are integrating our content into their coursework shaping how future health care workers understand and consider seniors’ mental health from the outset.
~ Guidelines are integrated into preventive health screening tools and electronic health systems, influencing point of care services.
~ Health organizations include www.ccsmh.ca in their new employee orientation ensuring new staff know to prioritize mental health of their clients and where to turn for trusted resources.
~ Health clinics create dedicated spaces in waiting rooms to display our brochures supporting conversations that might not have otherwise happened.
~ Students consult our guidelines in their practicum placements applying evidence in real world settings.
There are many more examples that we are aware of and we’re certain that there are many more that remain unknown. What we do know is that the contribution we make is creating ripple effects throughout the country. Each time a guideline informs a clinical decision, a resource supports a difficult conversation, or evidence shapes how care is taught or delivered, ripple effects are created.
We also know that we have many champions who amplify and elevate our work. It’s an amazing feeling to know that while we may be a small organization, we are part of a much larger team. Our reach exists because of all of you who put evidence into action on the ground.
The CCSMH is proud of the work that we do, and we are humbled by the breadth and depth of engagement that individuals and organizations have with this work. We will strive to continue to live up to the reputation we enjoy. New projects are underway, all with the same underlying impetus—supporting the mental health of older adults by connecting people, ideas and resources. The impact may not always be immediately visible—but it is real, and it is shaped every day by the work you do.
Thank you for being part of that reach.
ICYMI – In Case You Missed It!
The CCSMH has been in the media lately. Just in the past two months, representatives of the CCSMH have been interviewed for articles and news segments including:
~ a Globe and Mail article on retirement (Dr. Conn),
~ a news segment on social isolation and loneliness for Global News in New Brunswick (Dr. Conn), and
~ a segment on seniors’ mental health on CTV’s The Social (Claire Checkland; 35 minute mark).
Check them out!