Making the case for citizenship-oriented mental healthcare for youth in Canada
Journal of Public Mental Health
ISSN: 1746-5729
Article publication date: 2 March 2023
Issue publication date: 27 March 2023
Abstract
Purpose
Varying stakeholders have highlighted how recovery-oriented mental health services such as youth mental health services have traditionally focused on supporting individual resources to promote recovery (e.g., agency) to the exclusion of addressing structural issues that influence recovery (e.g. poverty). One response to this criticism has been work helping people with mental health problems recover a sense of citizenship and sense of belonging in their communities. Work on citizenship has yet to influence youth mental healthcare in Canada’s provinces and territories. This paper aims to highlight ways that youth mental healthcare can better help youth recover a sense of citizenship.
Design/methodology/approach
The arguments described in this paper were established through discussion and consensus among authors based on clinical experience in youth mental health and an understanding of Canada’s healthcare policy landscape, including current best practices as well as guidelines for recovery-oriented care by the Mental Health Commission of Canada.
Findings
Here, this study proposes several recommendations that can help young with mental health problems recover their sense of citizenship at the social, systems and service levels. These include addressing the social determinants of health; developing a citizenship-based system of care; addressing identity-related disparities; employing youth community health workers within services; adapting and delivering citizenship-based interventions; and connecting youth in care to civic-oriented organizations.
Originality/value
This paper provides the first discussion of how the concept of citizenship can be applied to youth mental health in Canada in multiple ways. The authors hope that this work provides momentum for adopting policies and practices that can help youth in Canada recover a sense of citizenship following a mental health crisis.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank Megan Pope for providing editorial feedback on this paper. Gerald Jordan has received funding to support his doctoral and postdoctoral research from the McGill Department of Psychiatry; the Franke Program in Science and the Humanities; the Fonds de recherche du Québec – Santé Doctoral and Postdoctoral Fellowship programs; as well as the Canadian Institutes of Health Research Fellowship and Strategies for Patient Oriented Research – Transition to Leadership Programmes. These funding bodies played no role in the current paper.
Citation
Jordan, G., Mutschler, C., Kidd, S.A., Rowe, M. and Iyer, S.N. (2023), "Making the case for citizenship-oriented mental healthcare for youth in Canada", Journal of Public Mental Health, Vol. 22 No. 1, pp. 3-11. https://doi.org/10.1108/JPMH-06-2022-0055
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2023, Emerald Publishing Limited