Bow Valley Mental Health
Participatory Action Learning Project
Rural Mental Health Project 2022-2023
Many people and organizations in the Bow Valley have been talking about mental health and many services, programs, and tools have been created to help people in our community stay mentally healthy.
People from around the world think about and experience mental health differently, so the services and programs that work for one community might not work for another.
To find out how we can better support culturally and linguistically diverse groups in the Bow Valley, we’re leading the Bow Valley Mental Health Participatory Action Learning (MHPAL) Project.
March 6 Community Information Session Materials
Together, we’re strengthening our capacity for better mental health as a rural community in Alberta through ongoing training and network development.
Through the Rural Mental Health Project (RMHP) we’re providing backbone organization support to local volunteer Community Animators in Banff and Canmore to listen to residents about mental health and wellbeing.
In March 2022, we received a grant from the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) to deliver the Bow Valley Mental Health Participatory Action Learning Project.
What We’re Doing About Mental Health in the Bow Valley
About The Bow Valley Mental Health Participatory Action Learning (PAL) Project
Local leaders from four different cultural groups in the Bow Valley will research mental health experiences in their communities. With this information, they’ll develop culturally appropriate materials focusing on how to stay mentally healthy, and where to go for mental health support.
Three key elements of this project:
A Multicultural Project Team - Including leaders from four different cultural groups in the Bow Valley. Members of the committee will be trained and paid to help plan and implement the research project, develop communication materials, and suggest ideas for other projects to build a mentally healthy community.
After the grant funding year, we hope to maintain, expand, and transition this group to a multicultural health advisory council.
Communication Materials - Focusing on how to stay mentally healthy and where to go for mental health support. The materials will be designed with and for each culture and language group involved in the project and available in different languages. They might be printed, online, video, audio, or something else.
A Report - Outlining how mental health is experienced in those four ethnocultural communities in the Bow Valley, including recommendations for other projects that would help. After this project, we’ll work together to support some of the preferred ideas from the report.
Participatory Action Research projects include:
Research to learn more about a problem, and
Work to help solve that problem.
Unlike some types of research, the people being studied are very involved in designing the study.
Our project is focused on the mental health of immigrants in the Bow Valley, so local immigrant community members will lead the project.
Researchers and social service organizations will help these leaders design and organize the project. Organizations will also offer training to support this and future projects.
The action part of our project is the creation of communication materials that are created by, for, and in the languages of, the communities involved in the project.
What Is Participatory Action Research (PAR)?
The idea for this project came from a few places. Everyone involved wants to solve the same problems:
Some immigrants in the Bow Valley are experiencing very high levels of stress and other mental health challenges. This was true before COVID-19 but we’ve heard that mental health concerns are increasing.
Organizations that provide mental health and social support for Bow Valley residents don’t know as much as they would like to about what services and information would best help immigrant locals.
We have a lot to learn about more effective ways to listen and talk to people from different cultural backgrounds about mental health.
We also want to:
Make the information on seethesigns.ca available in languages other than English
Build stronger relationships between ethnocultural groups and associations and service providers in the Bow Valley
Support the important work of local ethnocultural groups and associations
Why Is This Project Important?
In The News
“Bow Valley Immigration Partnership seeking multicultural voice for mental health project.”
Rob Murray, MountainFM, spoke with Tannia Burelo about her role as an 'Animator' to improve mental health and wellbeing in our communities, the Rural Mental Health Project underway in our province, and the Bow Valley Immigration Partnership's goal of forming a Multicultural Research Team to further those local mental health conversations.” (August 18, 2022)
Project Timeline Overview
April - August 2022: Project Start, Project Team Creation, Training
August - October 2022: Research Design
October 2022 - March 2023: Research & Planning Next Steps
March 6, 2023: Community Information Session
March - April 2023: Evaluation, Reporting
April - May 2023: Sharing & Next Steps
Supporting Organizations
So far, the Steering Committee for this project includes:
Bow Valley Immigration Partnership (BVIP)
Tannia Burelo, Banff Community Animator for Rural Mental Health Project, supported by BVIP
Alberta Health Services - Bow Valley Mental Health & Addiction
Tanya Wood, Canmore Community Animator for Rural Mental Health Project, supported by AHS Bow Valley Mental Health & Addiction
Other groups that have provided letters or offers of support include:
Canmore Filipino-Canadian Society
Bow Valley Muslim Association,
ACFA Régionale de Canmore/Banff,
Bow Valley Ministerial Association
Bow Valley Wellness, Recovery, Preparedness Coalition
Bow Valley Primary Care Network
Community Helpers Program
Town of Canmore
The Canadian Mental Health Association Alberta (CMHA) has been training volunteers across Alberta to be Community Animators. In the Bow Valley, we have an Animator in Banff, and an Animator in Canmore.
The role of Animators is to facilitate grassroots coalitions to identify broad areas of strength, concerns and opportunities, and support communities to identify and work to build local projects and capacity. Our local Animators are connected with the Rural Mental Health Network across the province to share, support, and learn from one another.
In 2021, our local Banff Community Animator, Tannia Burelo, connected with dozens of local residents to learn about their experiences of mental health and wellbeing.
BVIP is the ‘backbone organization’ for the Rural Mental Health Project in the Bow Valley.
This is a grassroots project led by and for the Bow Valley community. BVIP is supporting the Participatory Action Research project through facilitation, connections, administration, and guidance.
We’re a coalition of organizations and people working together to make the Bow Valley a welcoming, inclusive, and equitable community. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) funds BVIP through a contract with the Town of Banff.
By coming together, grassroots coalitions can support community wellbeing activities that reflect on the assets, values, and priorities of the community. To learn more or get involved, please contact us.