CMHA National announces the Mental Health Week theme each year. The theme this year was #MyStory, in recognition that everyone has a story to tell about mental health. Your Story may be about your own personal experience, or how mental illness
has touched your life through the experience of a loved one, someone you care for, or a work experience. Story telling is powerful, it’s healing, and it opens the door to being vulnerable and to being validated. It allows us to learn from each others’
experiences and build human connection. Mental Health Week (May 1-7) recognized that collectively and individually we all have multiple layers and stories that make us who we are.

Where do we look for direction to guide our work? Maybe it’s our education, research, experiences, influence from colleagues and mentors . . . maybe it’s a combination of all the above. Now ask yourself, of the above, what single factor has impacted and changed the way that you do things for the better? Is it experience? While education and research help to ground and support the direction of our work, it is our experiences that take things to another level. We see for ourselves what works, what doesn’t and why some things that should theoretically work or make sense, simply don’t.

As changing health needs continue to challenge Ontario’s healthcare system, we see that communities have been struggling to access and navigate health and social services and information in a simple and timely way. This has also been true for our local communities of Hamilton, Haldimand and Niagara Northwest. Ontarians are looking for a solution, they want access anytime, anywhere, and in a way that is personalized to their needs. As part of the Greater Hamilton Health Network OHT strategic plan, our goal is to better connect our local populations to care by providing them with a single “Digital Front Door” to their health care needs.health experts regarding the environmental impacts of health care, we have begun to research environmental sustainability among our partners.