[The process of elaborating guidelines for best practices: the example of concurrent mental health and substance...

During the course of 2001, a team of researchers and clinicians supported by Health Canada developed guidelines for best practices related to concurrent mental health and substance abuse disorders. This article first describes the importance of best practices for Health Canada followed by a description of the processes of research as well as consultation of the editorial team. We hope that these methodological elements will serve as reference for the development of best practices for other mental health problems. This article will not summarize the content of the guidelines for best practices found in the monograph, if only to illustrate examples of what we wish to transmit to the reader.