OBJECTIVE Individuals with mental illness often live in chronic poverty, which is associated with personal health practices such as tobacco use and poor nutrition that disrupt physical health. The purpose of our study was to examine whether differences exist in personal health and health practices - related to nutrition, physical activity, smoking, alcohol consumption and sleep - between a cohort of individuals with mental illness in southwestern Ontario and the general Canadian population. METHOD The study sample consisted of 250 individuals who had had a psychiatric diagnosis for at least one year. We conducted a structured quantitative interview with each person to gather information about their personal health and health practices, using question wording from the National Population Health Survey and the Canadian Community Health Survey. We calculated 95% confidence intervals for our results and used them to compare our data with Canadian norms. RESULTS Individuals with mental illness are significantly more likely than the general population to have a poor diet, experience poor sleep and consume alcohol in excess. CONCLUSION It is important for nurses, health-care organizations and policy-makers to be aware that a number of factors may be influencing the personal health and health practices of individuals with mental illness and that this population may require different health promotion strategies to support a healthy lifestyle.

The present study aimed to better understand the relationship between mental illness and poverty by comparing three groups of individuals with mental illness in Canada: those who see their financial status as improving, worsening, or staying the same. This study used a focused ethnography approach to collect qualitative data from 34 focus group participants. Participants highlighted several facilitators and barriers to financial improvement and often described their financial situation as a cycle that was difficult to escape. Results are discussed in terms of policy implications to facilitate both a movement toward mental health and away from poverty.

Stigma is a devastating psychosocial issue for many individuals with mental illness. This study examined the mental illness stigma experiences of 380 individuals with a self-reported psychiatric diagnosis in London, Ontario, Canada, using the Stigma Scale, a tool recently developed in the United Kingdom (UK). Data for the Canadian sample were examined and compared with those from the UK pilot group. Results indicated that both samples experienced mental illness stigma, with Canadian participants reporting fewer stigma experiences on close to half of the scale items. In general, the results suggested that antistigma efforts have achieved some successes, particularly for targeted recipient groups; however, the need remains for continued and varied methods of stigma reduction to eliminate stigma within society.

BACKGROUND: For people with mental illness (psychiatric survivors), seeking and securing employment involves personal, social, and environmental factors. In Canada, psychiatric survivors are under-represented in the workforce, and services can help by tailoring their supports to help make the most gains in employment. OBJECTIVE: Determine whether individual socio-demographic and health factors predict seeking and securing employment among psychiatric survivors. METHODS: A community sample of psychiatric survivors from a Southwestern Ontario region participated in this study. Stepwise logistic regression was used to analyze data from 363 participants who had completed a variety of questionnaires to ascertain individual characteristics and employment outcomes. RESULTS: Health service utilization, living circumstances, homelessness, substance use issues, general health, social integration, ethnicity, having children under 18, and being a student emerged as significant predictors of seeking and securing work. Other commonly accepted human capital indicators, such as education and age, were not predictive of employment search behavior and outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: Individual characteristics that predict employment search and success outcomes for psychiatric survivors include aspects related to treatment and living circumstances, which stands in contrast to predictors of employment for the general population, suggesting that employment support services may need to be tailored to psychiatric survivors specifically.

Participatory-action research encourages the involvement of all key stakeholders in the research process and is especially well suited to mental health research. Previous literature outlines the importance of engaging stakeholders in the development of research questions and methodologies, but little has been written about ensuring the involvement of all stakeholders (especially non-academic members) in dissemination opportunities such as publication development. The Article Idea Chart was developed as a specific methodology for engaging all stakeholders in data analysis and publication development. It has been successfully utilised in a number of studies and is an effective tool for ensuring the dissemination process of participatory-action research results is both inclusive and transparent to all team members, regardless of stakeholder group. Keywords: participatory-action research, mental health, dissemination, community capacity building, publications, authorship