The inaugural Mental Health Partners (MHP) Research Retreat took place on Friday, May 31, 2024 at CAMH. Led by Dr. Bernard Le Foll, Vice President of Research and Academics/Chief Scientific officer at Waypoint Centre for Mental Health Care and chair of the MHP Research Committee, the retreat brought together nine specialty psychiatric hospitals, government, and community partners to identify research priorities and drive collective impact. Nearly 50 participants attended, many meeting in person for the first time.

Content Expert Presentations: Setting the Stage
To level set the conversations, content experts briefly presented on each topic area:

• Restraint/seclusion

• Suicide reduction/prevention

• Harm reduction

• Housing/homelessness
   

Additionally, the importance of patient-centred research in forensic settings was emphasized.

These presentations provided essential context, highlighted current opportunities, and grounded the retreat in evidence-based insights. They ensured participants entered the next phase with a shared understanding and sharpened focus.

World Café Discussions
Building on the expert framing, the World Café method was used to facilitate collaborative discussions on each of the four theme areas that were identified as priority system issues and ones that could potentially benefit from a provincial collaborative effort.

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Key Outcome
Following the World Café discussions, participants selected Suicide Prevention/Reduction as the initial research priority for MHP. A working group will be convened to define a research question, integrate insights from all four themes, and to plan for activation across MHP organizations.​​

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