Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

De”Myth”Ifying Mental Health – Findings From A Community University Research Alliance (Cura), Rick Csiernik, Cheryl Forchuk, Mark Speechley, Catherine Ward-Griffin

Rick Csiernik

Many myths exist regarding mental illness and those with mental health issues. Under the auspices of a Community-University Research Alliance on Housing and Mental Health, a partnership between academics, community health and social service agencies and representatives of consumer-survivor groups, fourteen consumer-survivor and eight family member focus groups were held throughout Southwestern Ontario. Individual interviews were also conducted with 150 male and 150 female community-based mental health system consumer-survivors living in a variety of housing environments in London, Ontario. The findings dispute beliefs around four myths: that people with mental health problems are a homogenous population, which was highlighted by …