The Ministry of Health Promotion and Sport (MHPS) has approved phase three of the Canadian Mental Health Association, Ontario-led project Minding Our Bodies: Healthy Eating and Physical Activity for Mental Health. Following a successful pilot phase (2008-2011), the Minding Our Bodies project will now be rolled out province-wide over the next two years (2011-2013).
During the pilot phase, Minding Our Bodies conducted an environmental scan of existing initiatives and resources, created an online planning toolkit and directory of programs, and sponsored 12 mental health service providers to launch new programs in collaboration with community partners. Individual case studies for the pilot sites and an overall project evaluation have now been published.
With the new $250,000 grant from MHPS through the Healthy Communities Fund, Minding Our Bodies will deliver a series of knowledge exchange forums, develop and launch a train-the-trainer program for peer facilitators, offer seed funding for up to 20 new physical activity and healthy eating programs, and provide support for program evaluation. Three project working groups will be created to focus on knowledge exchange, program development and evaluation. CMHA Ontario is now inviting expressions of interest from organizations that want to participate in the project as working group members. For details, contact Scott Mitchell at smitchell@ontario.cmha.ca.
Minding Our Bodies is an initiative of the Canadian Mental Health Association, Ontario, in partnership with the Mood Disorders Association of Ontario, Nutrition Resource Centre, YMCA and York University. The project advisory committee includes a broad range of organizations with an interest in mental health and chronic disease prevention and management. The project goal is to increase capacity within the community mental health sector in Ontario to promote active living and healthy eating for people with serious mental illness.
For more information about Minding Our Bodies, visitwww.mindingourbodies.ca. For information about the Healthy Communities Fund, including a complete list of grant recipients, seewww.mhp.gov.on.ca/en/healthy-communities/.