The Canadian Psychiatric Association (CPA) works closely with national health associations and collaboratives to provide a strong, unified voice on important mental health issues in Canada. The CPA ensures that the profession of psychiatry is recognized as a national leader in health care, influencing the policies, programs, budgets and initiatives affecting the profession and the health of Canadians.
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The Canadian Psychiatric Association (CPA) is one of five founding members of the Canadian Alliance on Mental Illness and Mental Health (CAMIMH) Established in 1998, CAMIMH is now the largest coalition of consumers and families, health care and social service providers, professional associations, and community and research organizations. It advocates with one voice urging health and social policy makers to put mental health on their agendas to create a national action plan for mental illness and mental health.
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Formed in 1991, the Health Action Lobby (HEAL) is a coalition of 41 national health organizations that represents a broad cross-section of health providers, health regions, institutions and facilities.
HEAL was created out of concern over the erosion of the federal government’s role in supporting a national health system. Through its history, HEAL has met with representatives of the federal government, presented briefs to Standing Committees and released a series of policy papers covering a range of health policy issues, including the role of the federal government in funding health care, health human resources, entry-to-practice issues and the Canada Health Act.
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The Canadian Psychiatric Association (CPA) and the College of Family Physicians of Canada (CFPC) formed the Shared Mental Health Care Working Group to improve the collaboration between family physicians and psychiatrists in delivering mental health care to patients.
Collaborative Mental Health Care
A Collaborative Mental Health Care Consortium was formed to improve the links among the professions that deliver mental health care and to improve the coordination between mental health and primary care. Consumers, families and caregivers, dietitians, family physicians, nurses, occupational therapists, pharmacists, psychologists, psychiatrists and social workers are represented in the Consortium.
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The Wait Time Alliance (WTA) was formed out of concern among Canada’s doctors over delayed access to care for their patients and interest in working collaboratively with stakeholders to improve wait times. The WTA was comprised of several national medical specialty societies, including the Canadian Psychiatric Association (CPA), whose members are directly involved in providing care to patients.
