Assessing support for mental health policies among policy influencers and the general public in Alberta and Manitoba, Canada.

There is a need to improve mental health policy in Canada to address the growing population burden of mental illness. Understanding support for policy options is critical for advocacy efforts to improve mental health policy. Our purpose was to describe support for population-level healthy public policies to improve mental health among policy influencers and the general public in Alberta and Manitoba; and, identify associations between levels of support and sociodemographic variables and relative to the Nuffield Bioethics Intervention Ladder framework. We used data from the 2019 Chronic Disease Prevention Survey, which recruited a representative sample of the general public in Alberta (n = 1792) and Manitoba (n = 1909) and policy influencers in each province (Alberta n = 291, Manitoba n = 129). Level of support was described for 16 policy options using a Likert-style scale for mental health policy options by province, sample type, and sociodemographic variables using ordinal regression modelling. Policy options were coded using the Nuffield Council on Bioethics Intervention Ladder to classify support for policy options by level of intrusiveness. Policy options were categorized as 'Provide Information' and 'Enable Choice' according to the Nuffield Intervention Ladder. There was high support for all policy options, and few differences between samples or provinces. Strong support was more common among women and among those who were more politically left (versus center). Immigrants were more likely to strongly support most of the policies. Those who were politically right leaning (versus center) were less likely to support any of the mental health policies. Mental health status, education, and Indigenous identity were also associated with support for some policy options. There is strong support for mental health policy in Western Canada. Results demonstrate a gap between support and implementation of mental health policy and provide evidence for advocates and policy makers looking to improve the policy landscape in Canada.

Nykiforuk CIJ ，Thomson M ，Curtin KD ，Colman I ，Wild TC ，Hyshka E ... -  《International Journal of Mental Health Systems》

Assessing support for substance use policies among the general public and policy influencers in two Canadian provinces.

Examining support for substance use policies, including those for harm reduction, among the general public and policy influencers is a fundamental step to map the current policy landscape and leverage policy opportunities. Yet, this is a knowledge gap in Canada. Our paper identifies the level of support for substance use policies in two provinces in Canada and describes how the level of support is associated with intrusiveness and sociodemographic variables. Data came from the 2019 Chronic Disease Prevention Survey. The representative sample included members of the general public (Alberta n = 1648, Manitoba n = 1770) as well as policy influencers (Alberta n = 204, Manitoba n = 98). We measured the level of support for 22 public policies concerning substance use through a 4-point Likert-scale. The Nuffield Council on Bioethics Intervention Ladder framework was applied to assess intrusiveness. We used cumulative link models to run ordinal regressions for identification of explanatory sociodemographic variables. Overall, there was generally strong support for the policies assessed. The general public in Manitoba was significantly more supportive of policies than its Alberta counterpart. Some differences were found between provinces and samples. For certain substance use policies, there was stronger support among women than men and among those with higher education than those with less education. The results highlight areas where efforts are needed to increase support from both policy influencers and general public for adoption, implementation, and scaling of substance use policies. Socio-demographic variables related to support for substance use policies may be useful in informing strategies such as knowledge mobilization to advance the policy landscape in Western Canada.

Curtin KD ，Thomson M ，Hyshka E ，Colman I ，Wild TC ，Belon AP ，Nykiforuk CIJ ... -  《Substance Abuse Treatment Prevention and Policy》

Using the intervention ladder to examine policy influencer and general public support for potential tobacco control policies in Alberta and Quebec.

Kongats K ，McGetrick JA ，Raine KD ，Nykiforuk CIJ ... -  《Health Promotion and Chronic Disease Prevention in Canada-Research Policy and Practice》

Policy Influencer and General Public Support for Proposed Alcohol Healthy Public Policy Options in Alberta and Quebec, Canada.

Kongats K ，McGetrick JA ，Thomson M ，Raine KD ，Nykiforuk CIJ ... -  《-》

Assessing general public and policy influencer support for healthy public policies to promote healthy eating at the population level in two Canadian provinces.

Kongats K ，McGetrick JA ，Raine KD ，Voyer C ，Nykiforuk CI ... -  《-》