Author: Shauna MacEachern, Marie-Lou Meawasige, Erica Sawula, & Dorina Simeonov
Systems Improvement through Service Collaboratives (SISC) is an initiative within Open Minds, Healthy Minds: Ontario’s Comprehensive Mental Health and Addictions Strategy, a ten year plan that commits to transformation of mental health and addiction services for all Ontarians. Within the first three years of the SISC initiative, 18 Service Collaboratives facilitated local systems change to better support individuals with mental health and addictions needs. The initiative is sponsored by the Provincial System Support Program at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. The SISC initiative, used a strategic framework (Implementation Science) to guide a geographically dispersed, cross-sector and community-led systems change process in mental health and addictions. This experience has highlighted some integration with systems and design thinking. When utilized effectively, The Implementation Science framework provides an evidence-informed process to guide intentional, actionable change,. We can look to innovative large-scale initiatives, like SISC, that have tested and adapted approaches in a variety of contexts to better understand how to fully realize the value of integrating these frameworks into evolving system design practices.
