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| Seniors' mental health policy lens researchers (left to right): Julie Wade, Lola-Dawn Fennell and Dawn Hemingway |
The Seniors Mental Health Policy Lens was developed as part of a national project, Psychosocial Approaches to the Mental Health Challenges of Late Life, awarded to the British Columbia Psychogeriatric Association by the Population Health Fund (Health Canada) in 2004. Dr. Penny MacCourt (UVIC Centre on Aging) provided leadership to the project, with involvement from researchers and stakeholders nation-wide, including Dawn Hemingway, Associate Professor of Social Work at University of Northern BC and President of the BC Psychogeriatric Association during the formative years of the project.
The Policy Lens was designed to reflect the values and perspectives of older Canadian adults about their mental health. To this end, twelve focus groups were conducted with 150 older adults across Canada (in English, French and Chinese). Participants were asked to identify what they considered the mental health challenges of aging, how they meet these challenges and what is helpful in doing so. In addition, findings from pertinent Canadian studies of older adults were examined for their perspectives about the factors influencing their mental health.
The Policy Lens is an analytical tool developed to identify effects of current and planned policies, programs, and practices on seniors' mental health. It is made up of a set of ten primary questions, with sub-questions that are intended to raise users’ awareness about the factors that impact on the mental health and wellness of older adults, and guide their analyses and development of policies and services from a seniors’ mental health perspective.
Once the lens was developed, additional funding was received from the Population Health Fund to evaluate the implementation of the Policy Lens, develop it as a best practice in seniors’ mental health program and policy design as well as to initiate implementation projects across the country. In northern British Columbia, the Prince George Council of Seniors is spearheading one of the current implementation projects in partnership with the BC Network for Aging Research (BCNAR). The local project team is Lola-Dawn Fennell (Manager, PG Council of Seniors), Julie Wade (BCNAR Northern Regional Liaison Officer) and Dawn Hemingway (BCNAR and UNBC School of Social Work).
Workshops on using the Policy Lens are being conducted for seniors, service providers, policy makers and anyone interested in learning more about how to use the Lens. The next workshop is scheduled for 1pm on Friday, February 26th at the UNBC BMO Downtown Campus in Prince George. If you’re interested in attending, contact Lola-Dawn at 564-5888 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it to learn more and to reserve your spot. Attendance by WebEx is also possible.
