Promising Practices from the Immigrant and Refugee Mental Health Project at CAMH

The Immigrant and Refugee Mental Health Project (IRMHP) is an IRCC-funded project that "offers online training, tools and resources to settlement, social and health service professionals working with immigrants and refugees." The "project builds on the former Refugee Mental Health Project, expanding to cover mental health problems and disorders in different groups of immigrants and refugees as well as evidence-based services, treatments and supports that have the capacity to effectively address the unique needs of different groups."

I think IRMHP is perhaps best known for its excellent courses, webinars, Community of Practice, and toolkits. But, each month, in their newsletter (which you should definitely subscribe to), they include a great look at a sector promising practice: "Across Canada, organizations are developing new practices to tackle today’s greatest challenges in the health, settlement and social service sectors. Each month, we feature a promising practice that highlights how an organization is addressing the mental health of immigrants and refugee and how you can use this information in your practice."

Each promising practice is organized into the same template, so you know what you're going to see each month.

There are some quick facts:

• audience (who in the sector would be interested in this practice, or might find it most applicable to their work)
• population of interest (the newcomer client or community of focus)
• location (geographic service area of the practice)
• the need (why this practice or project is necessary, what gaps it might fill)
• what's promising (why is this a promising practice?)
• key takeaway (a quick overview of what makes this unique and useful and why it should be of interest to you)

Below this section is a narrative providing more details and information about the practice.

I would love to see some deep links to more information about each practice or project documents (not every practice description has them), and even contact information, like Cities of Migration provides. But, the promising practices are rich and useful and there is a great repository that goes back to October 2019. The practices focus on immigrant and refugee mental health. If you're not an expert in this area, the IRMHP project is a great starting point to become more aware and knowledgeable.

Here are just a few:

• OCASI – The Accessibility Initiative
• YMCA of Greater Toronto National GAR Case Management – Client Support Services
• ISANS Living Well in Times of Self-Isolation online program
• Kids Help Phone Newcomer Initiative for Arabic-Speaking Youth
• English Online Inc.