Wellesley Institute works in research and policy to improve health and health equity in the GTA through action on the social determinants of health.
Although the City of Toronto 2024 budget takes bold steps toward supporting residents and advancing equity in key areas, there is much more work that needs to be done to build a city that is resilient, mentally healthy and equitable for all.
Bell Let’s Talk’s 2024 campaign, “Let’s create real change” opens a crucial conversation about taking lasting action to address the mental health crisis. Worrisome mental health trends are being observed globally and in Toronto. According to Toronto Public Health, the number of Toronto residents reporting very good or excellent mental health has fallen from 71 […]
Continue ReadingGetting to the root of the mental health crisis
The onset of COVID-19 and the introduction of lockdown practices to prevent its spread have raised considerable concerns about their impact on mental health, and the potential for an ‘echo pandemic’ of mental health problems. For this reason, the City of Toronto announced a mental health support strategy in April of 2020, urging residents to […]
Continue ReadingMental health-related calls in Toronto during the COVID-19 pandemic Download PublicationMental-Health-Related-Calls-July-22
Mental health supportive housing relies on municipal-health sector collaboration. It straddles the Local Health Integration Network (LHIN) mandate of coordinating integrated local health systems and the municipal responsibility for local housing and homelessness initiatives. In recent years, municipalities and LHINs have initiated collaborative work to address the overlap of their roles in supportive housing. However, […]
Continue ReadingBuilding on Collaboration: Learnings from Toronto’s Supportive Housing System Download PublicationBuilding on Collaboration
Many people living with mental health and addictions issues are caught in a cycle of homelessness, police encounters, court hearings, hospital stays, and incarceration. This cycle results in significant public costs for jails, policing, hospital use, shelters, and other services. A new approach to supportive housing will reduce many of these costs, and will also […]
Continue ReadingNeeds assessment: Justice-focused mental health supportive housing Download PublicationJustice-focused Mental Health Supportive Housing in Toronto – Needs Asessment and Action Plan 2020
This report illustrates that Torontonians experience a different city depending on where they live, work and play. While the risk factors and indicators identified in this report each have an independent impact on mental health, they often overlap geographically. Some neighbourhoods in Toronto are facing multiple stressors at once, suggesting that they may face increased […]
Continue ReadingStress Report: A snapshot of socioeconomic status, housing quality and crime across Toronto neighbourhoods Download PublicationStress Report: A snapshot of socioeconomic status, housing quality and crime across Toronto neighbourhoods
It is a time of opportunity for supportive housing in Ontario. Housing and homelessness are main pillars in the government’s poverty reduction strategy. This is crucial because housing is a large factor in the social determinants of health. Whether someone’s housing is affordable, in good repair, or has the right supports or not has a […]
Continue ReadingComing Together on Supported Housing for Mental Health and Addictions in Ontario Download PublicationComing Together on Supported Housing in ON
Recent reports from the Wellesley Institute on Mental Health Equity including a Mental Well-being Impact Assessment and other resources for LHINs.
Continue ReadingMental Health Equity Flip Sheet Download PublicationMental Health Equity Flip Sheet
To drive health equity into action we need to understand the needs of health disadvantaged populations, identify barriers to equitable access to quality care, and build equity into priority setting, resource allocation and performance management. We need effective and useable equity-focused planning tools. One problem with the way health impact assessment has evolved is that […]
Continue ReadingMental Well-Being Impact Assessment: A Primer Download PublicationMental Well-Being Impact Assessment: A Primer
Principal Organizations: Community Resource Connections of Toronto, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health Investigators: Nora Jacobson, Deqa Farah and Cultural Diversity Community of Practice Participants: Mental health service users and family members in the Caribbean, Somali, and Tamil communities in Toronto Research Methods: Focus groups In the mental health field, the word “recovery” has gained […]
Continue ReadingRecovery Through The Lens Of Cultural Diversity Download PublicationRecovery Through The Lens Of Cultural Diversity
We wish to acknowledge this land on which the Wellesley Institute operates. For thousands of years, it has been the traditional land of the Huron-Wendat, the Seneca, and the Mississaugas of the Credit. Today, this meeting place is still the home to many Indigenous people from across Turtle Island and we are grateful to have the opportunity to work on this land.
Revised by the Ceremonial Committee at the University of Toronto Office of Indigenous Initiatives in April 2021.