Advancing research on mental health in the workplace

A complex topic like workplace mental health requires multidisciplinary, multi-sectoral, mixed methods research and effective knowledge translation of research findings. In this commentary, two of the 13 institutes that comprise the Canadian Institutes of Health Research - the institute of Gender and Health and the Institute of Population and Public Health - discuss strategies for advancing research on mental health and the workplace. With a focus on each Institute's mandate, the commentary argues that there is a need to advance our understanding of how biological, social, cultural and environmental determinants of workplace mental health are influenced by sex and gender, and of how population health intervention research can generate evidence that will strengthen the impact of workplace interventions to reduce mental illness.