A Pathway to Mental Health and Community Wellness
Mental Health and Community Wellness launched A Pathway to Mental Health and Community Wellness in February 2022, which lays out a plan for investing and transforming Manitoba's mental health and addictions system.
Mental Health and Community Wellness' mission in implementing this roadmap is to create an integrated, responsive and accessible system of wellness, mental health, substance use and recovery services and supports that meets the needs of Manitobans. With an ultimate vision of Manitobans experiencing optimal physical, mental, emotional, cultural and spiritual well-being across their lifespan.
The roadmap focuses on five strategic focus areas:
- Equitable access and coordination
- Mental wellbeing and chronic disease prevention
- Quality and innovation
- Governance and accountability
- Indigenous partnership and wellness
The roadmap reflects and incorporates feedback from an extensive public and sector consultation process which was undertaken in fall 2021 as well as reports and recommendations made to government including the VIRGO Report, reports from the Manitoba Advocate for Children and Youth, and the findings of the Illicit Drug Task Force. It also aligns with broader plans for health system transformation including the Clinical and Preventive Services Plan.
Five Strategic Focus Areas of Pathways
Strategic Focus Areas
- Equitable Access and Coordination:
- Focus is on ensuring that all Manitobans can access mental health, substance use and addictions services and wellness programs where and when they need them.
- Improving access to services for rural and northern communities
- Care needs to be accessible, and services and programs need to be connected and coordinated so they work together to support an individual in their recovery journey.
- Mental Wellbeing and Chronic Disease Prevention
- Focus is on supporting the mental well-being and physical health of our population.
- Action will be taken to reduce chronic disease, prevent addiction, reduce stigma and invest in child and youth development.
- Quality and Innovation
- Focus is on supporting and investing in our front-line workforce and providing them access to best practices and clear quality standards that set the bar for service delivery across the province.
- Those providing services need to have the capacity, skills and training needed to deliver high quality care and the system needs to be able to adopt modern virtual care and information technology solutions to enable care delivery and performance management.
- Governance and Accountability
- Focus is on taking a whole-of-government approach to coordinating planning, funding and oversight in a more integrated and evidence-based way.
- Commitment to a more collaborative approach to system leadership, where people with lived/living experience, Indigenous peoples, service providers and partners across government have a voice in system planning and decision-making.
- Indigenous Partnership and Wellness
- Focus is on listening to, learning from and working with Indigenous governments, rights-holders and Indigenous-led organizations to support the mental health and well-being of Indigenous peoples in Manitoba.
- Colonial practices, past and present, have contributed to reduced access to culturally safe and relevant care and resulted in poor outcomes for Indigenous peoples.
- The department is committed to advancing reconciliation by working collaboratively to address these challenges while respecting the distinct nature and lived experience of First Nations, Inuit and Métis.
- Focus is on ensuring that all Manitobans can access mental health, substance use and addictions services and wellness programs where and when they need them.
- Improving access to services for rural and northern communities
- Care needs to be accessible, and services and programs need to be connected and coordinated so they work together to support an individual in their recovery journey.
- Focus is on supporting the mental well-being and physical health of our population.
- Action will be taken to reduce chronic disease, prevent addiction, reduce stigma and invest in child and youth development.
- Focus is on supporting and investing in our front-line workforce and providing them access to best practices and clear quality standards that set the bar for service delivery across the province.
- Those providing services need to have the capacity, skills and training needed to deliver high quality care and the system needs to be able to adopt modern virtual care and information technology solutions to enable care delivery and performance management.
- Focus is on taking a whole-of-government approach to coordinating planning, funding and oversight in a more integrated and evidence-based way.
- Commitment to a more collaborative approach to system leadership, where people with lived/living experience, Indigenous peoples, service providers and partners across government have a voice in system planning and decision-making.
- Focus is on listening to, learning from and working with Indigenous governments, rights-holders and Indigenous-led organizations to support the mental health and well-being of Indigenous peoples in Manitoba.
- Colonial practices, past and present, have contributed to reduced access to culturally safe and relevant care and resulted in poor outcomes for Indigenous peoples.
- The department is committed to advancing reconciliation by working collaboratively to address these challenges while respecting the distinct nature and lived experience of First Nations, Inuit and Métis.
