COVID-19 and Mental Health (CMH) Initiative: Timeline

COVID-19 and Mental Health (CMH) Initiative: Timeline
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May
May 29: Twitter | CMH Initiative Update
May 28: Pre-announcement | Operating Grant: COVID-19 Mental Health and Substance Use Service Needs and Delivery
May 28: Newsletter | CMH Initiative Updates: Funding Opportunities, CRISM National Guidelines and Pre-announcement
May 25: Health Portfolio Working Group Meeting
PHAC, CIHR, HC-CSCB and HC-SPB, CCSA and MHCC provided updates about their organizations’ activities and learnings in relation to mental health and substance use in the COVID-19 context.
Presentations were given on the funded Knowledge Synthesis grants, as well as updates for the next funding opportunity. The Knowledge Mobilization Strategy was discussed, including future dissemination materials.
May 22: Notice of Decision | Knowledge Synthesis: COVID-19 in Mental Health and Substance Use
May 22: Twitter | CMH Initiative Update
May 21: CIHR Knowledge Mobilization and Funding Development Working Group Meeting
Further information regarding the Knowledge Synthesis grant competition was presented to members, including a presentation outlining the awarded applications.
The group discussed changes and updates to the next funding opportunity, and the Knowledge Mobilization Strategy was presented to the group for final comments and feedback.
May 17: CRISM releases two of six COVID-19 Pandemic National Rapid Guidance documents from the Operating Grant: CRISM Urgent Guideline Activities Related to COVID-19 funding opportunity
- Telemedicine support for addiction services [ PDF (1.88 MB) - external link ]
- Supporting people who use substances in shelter settings during the COVID‑19 pandemic [ PDF (1.85 MB) - external link ]
May 15: Knowledge Synthesis: COVID-19 in Mental Health and Substance Use peer review begins
May 15: Twitter | CMH Initiative Update
May 14: Newsletter | CMH Initiative Update: How We’re Supporting Mental Health During COVID-19
May 13: CIHR Knowledge Mobilization and Funding Development Working Group Meeting
Information regarding the number of submitted applications to the Knowledge Synthesis grant was shared with members, including a breakdown of identified priority populations in the applications. Partnerships for the Knowledge Mobilization Strategy were discussed, as well as feedback for the next funding opportunity in the CMH Initiative.
May 11: Health Portfolio Working Group Meeting
PHAC, CIHR, HC-CSCB and HC-SPB, CCSA and MHCC provided updates about their organizations’ activities and learnings in relation to mental health and substance use in the COVID-19 context.
Strategies for disseminating the knowledge developed from the Knowledge Synthesis funding opportunity were discussed, with emphasis on user-friendly, searchable and downloadable content for policy makers, practitioners, researchers and all Canadians.
The Knowledge Synthesis application pressure was discussed. Updates were provided on when CRISM’s COVID-19 Pandemic National Rapid Guidance documents were expected to be published for public use.
May 8: Expert Advisory Panel
The EAP discussed key points about virtual care, workforce development and training and stepped care versus matched care.
May 8: Notice of Decision | Operating Grant: CRISM Urgent Guideline Activities Related to COVID-19 (directed grant)
May 8: Twitter | CMH Initiative Update
May 8: Knowledge Synthesis: COVID-19 in Mental Health and Substance Use relevancy review begins
May 7: Application Deadline | Knowledge Synthesis: COVID-19 in Mental Health and Substance Use
May 4: Health Portfolio Working Group Meeting
PHAC, CIHR, HC-CSCB and HC-SPB, CCSA and MHCC provided updates about their organizations’ activities and learnings in relation to mental health and substance use in the COVID-19 context.
Members were given a presentation on a preliminary Knowledge Mobilization Strategy for the funded Knowledge Synthesis grants and asked to provide feedback on the strategy as well as partnership opportunities.
May 1: Application Deadline | Operating Grant: CRISM Urgent Guideline Activities Related to COVID-19 (directed grant)
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April
April 30: Development of Operating Grant: COVID-19 Mental Health and Substance Use Service Needs and Delivery begins
April 29: launch | Knowledge Synthesis: COVID-19 in Mental Health and Substance Use
April 29: launch | Operating Grant: CRISM Urgent Guideline Activities Related to COVID-19 (directed grant)
April 29: CIHR Knowledge Mobilization and Funding Development Working Group Meeting
An overview was given regarding the progress of the working groups that have been put in place to inform efforts around the CMH Initiative. Members were asked to disseminate the recently launched Knowledge Synthesis funding opportunity through their contacts at professional bodies and email newsletters.
The Knowledge Mobilization Strategy was discussed, and feedback was provided by members. A sub-working group was formed to focus on implementation.
April 25: Newsletter | CMH Initiative Pre-announcements (2020-04-25)
April 24: Expert Advisory Panel (EAP) Meeting
The focus of this meeting was current and planned surveillance and monitoring activities of mental health responses to COVID-19, as well as gaps in knowledge. Key takeaways were:
- Short-term, smaller scale surveillance activities may be more effective in generating timely results than longer term and larger scale surveillance activities during a pandemic response.
- Qualitative interviews with people with lived experiences is a critical component in generating meaningful information related to mental health in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.
April 24: Pre-announcement | Knowledge Synthesis Grant: COVID-19 Rapid Research Funding Opportunity in Mental Health and Substance Use
April 20: Health Portfolio Working Group Meeting
PHAC, CIHR, HC-CSCB and HC-SPB, Statistics Canada, CCSA and MHCC provided updates about their organizations’ activities and learnings in relation to mental health and substance use in the COVID-19 context.
April 18: Development of CMH Initiative Knowledge Mobilization Strategy begins
April 17: CIHR Knowledge Mobilization and Funding Development Working Group Meeting
As the Knowledge Synthesis was being finalized, feedback was requested by members. Dr. Chambers was tasked with leading the Knowledge Mobilization Strategy for the CMH Initiative. Updates from other working groups were shared for the purposes of surveillance and monitoring of mental health knowledge gaps in the COVID-19 context.
Members discussed and created action items related to the Canadian Research Initiative in Substance Misuse (CRISM) directed grant to develop national substance use guidelines in the COVID-19 context.
April 9: Expert Advisory Panel (EAP) Meeting
The inaugural meeting of the EAP focused the CMH Initiative Action Plan, including the addition of key populations and areas of concern identified by the members. Overviews for new funding opportunities were also discussed.
April 8: Development of Operating Grant: CRISM Urgent Guideline Activities Related to COVID-19 funding opportunity begins
April 7: CIHR Knowledge Mobilization and Funding Development Working Group Meeting
Terms of Reference for the working group were approved, and members were informed that the budget to fund the COVID-19 and Mental Health (CMH) Initiative was approved by both the Minister of Health and Finance offices. An update was given on the Knowledge Synthesis funding opportunity, and recommendations were made to guide the development of the next funding opportunity.
April 6: Health Portfolio Working Group Meeting
Lead by Dr. Samuel Weiss, Scientific Director of the CIHR Institute of Neurosciences, Mental Health and Addiction, the Health Portfolio Working Group welcomed Dr. Christine Chambers, Scientific Director of the CIHR Institute of Institute of Human Development, Child and Youth Health, as co-lead. Representatives from the Mental Health Commission of Canada (MHCC) and the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction (CCSA) also joined the working group.
PHAC, CIHR, HC-CSCB and HC-SPB, CCSA and MHCC provided updates on their organizations’ activities and learnings in relation to mental health and substance use in the COVID-19 context. Input on the CMH Initiative Action Plan was discussed, as well as details of the upcoming funding opportunities.
April 1: Development of Knowledge Synthesis: COVID-19 in Mental Health and Substance Use funding opportunity begins
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March
March 31: CIHR Knowledge Mobilization and Funding Development Working Group Meeting (2020-03-31)
Draft Terms of Reference for this working group were discussed, and feedback was provided by members. Suggestions for members of the Expert Advisory Panel (EAP) were made, and Terms of Reference for the EAP group were also discussed. Members also gave feedback for the CMH Initiative Action Plan, which outlined the rapid- and near-term vision of the Initiative.
March 31: Newsletter | COVID-19 and Mental Health
March 27: COVID-19 and Mental Health (CMH) Initiative approved
March 26: Health Portfolio Working Group Meeting
The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), CIHR, Health Canada – Controlled Substances and Cannabis Branch (HC-CSCB) and Health Canada – Strategic Policy Branch (HC-SPB) provided updates about their organizations’ activities and learnings in relation to mental health and substance use in the COVID-19 context.
Mental health and substance use were confirmed as a knowledge gap in the pandemic response, and the addition of new working groups and advisory panels was discussed.
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