“Inside each of us, and among all of us, are the necessary elements to make our systems better.”

Institute for Healthcare Improvement

What is Shared Wisdom for?

Share what’s working on the ground. That is, to share locally developed innovations and evidence-informed practices that can result in better mental health outcomes.
Acknowledge, support, and celebrate what people are doing in Alberta to improve community-based mental health and addiction services and supports.
Inspire and support implementation of innovations and evidence-informed practices.
Build a learning community around the sharing of wisdom and experience to better support mental health in the community.

Who can use Shared Wisdom?

Shared Wisdom is intended for people and organizations with a spirit of inquiry and a commitment to serving others with excellence – people who strive every day to better support people, families and communities in their journey to mental wellbeing, resilience and recovery. This includes:

government and non-government organizations, whether large or small in size and in urban, rural and remote settings.
individuals, groups or organizations in a position to support mental health in the community.

The major focus is on evidence-informed practices and innovations in organizations. Some information will be particularly relevant to managers charged with overseeing these activities; other information will be relevant to individual practitioners doing the work “on the ground”. In essence, there is something for anyone who is interested in optimizing supports for mental wellbeing in the community.

Download

Shared Wisdom Guide

Ideas for Using Shared Wisdom

Use it for navigation support to learn about other service providers.

Gain ideas for training, program development / planning, evaluation, and new resources

Share with organizations, in a course, or in meetings and presentations

Shared Wisdom Stories

Brick Learning Centre Story

The power of love at the BRICK Learning Centre: Transforming students’ lives through caring relationships Jason* was raised by his grandmother. But last month his nanna passed away and he went to live with his aunt. Yesterday, she kicked him out of her house. He has no other place to

From enforcement to coffee and compassion: Trauma informed care at Edmonton City Centre

Have you ever had the feeling that things “aren’t just quite right” – that you could be doing things differently and getting better results? Have you ever experienced a convergence of events that made you realize things needed to change? This is a story about these very experiences – and

How the Distress Centre Calgary implemented Canada’s first peer chat and text service for youth in distress: ConnecTeen

Sometimes when supporting mental health in the community, we run into situations where a particular practice or program isn’t getting the results we’d hoped for, and where there aren’t any other tested or suitable alternatives. In these cases, we need to innovate – to try

Institutionalizing Empathy-led Security at Edmonton City Centre, Paladin Security and QuadReal Property Group

This story picks up from where we left off in the Shared Wisdom story, “From enforcement to coffee and compassion: Trauma-informed care at Edmonton City Centre” that described a sea change in how security services are conceived and delivered at Edmonton City Centre (ECC). The shift from enforcement to trauma-informed

Making a difference: When effective training meets people and settings ready for change

What is it about some forms of training that inspire people to put evidence and new ideas into practice? We explored the training provided by the Imagine Institute for Learning under the umbrella of the Community Mental Health Action Plan.

Scuba buddies at work: Building a community of caring at Distress Centre Calgary

The rewards of supporting people in crisis or mental health challenges can be unparalleled. To know we’ve helped someone and made a difference in their lives can impart a deep sense of meaning and purpose to our lives. But this work can also be intense

Sustaining a culture of continuous learning at the Aventa Centre of Excellence for Women with Addictions

“One of the reasons I enjoy working at Aventa is we are always ahead of the curve.” “We’re constantly looking at best practices.” The complexity and dynamism of the people and communities we serve, the issues they face, and the systems we work in

The Family Centre

In 2013, the Family Centre (TFC) in Edmonton began collaborating with five other agencies to provide drop-in, single-session mental health counselling (DISSC) in multiple locations. This cooperative effort removed barriers to service and enabled people in crisis to get help quickly. In 2018, TFC lost $100,000 in funding. But despite

Trauma Informed Care Aventa Story

A chilly gray April day. Standing outside the locked, barred door, pressing the bell. Waiting. What is this place like? What are the people like? Another door. Another set of uncertainties, the unknown. But what a relief upon stepping inside! Warmth. Comfort. Safety. Pretty things – a giant turquoise glass