Building Community Capacity in Mental Health: What Leaders Can Do

While there is increased awareness of the burden of mental illness, the healthcare system has not developed sufficient community capacity to reduce reliance on hospitalization and incarceration for people with serious mental illness. There has been incremental progress, but more needs to be done. Increased funding and increased collaboration are critical ingredients for reform. The article reviews developments in community mental health over the past 50 years in Canada and provides observations about funding and the policy development process, as well as reflections on what leaders can do to promote and achieve reform.