Collaborating To Explore Complementary Approaches To Mental Wellness And Resiliency During The COVID-19 Pandemic And Beyond

Building on the work that our team has done regarding home-based activities that can improve mental wellness during the COVID-19 pandemic, we are proposing a series of activities that will build and foster collaboration among researchers from various disciplines, people with lived experience, and experts and practitioners of various activities that have therapeutic effects on mental health. Specifically, we propose to form a collaborative group that will meet once every month to set research agenda and priorities and to plan the holding of a virtual conference in September 2021 and the preparation of a systematic plan to conduct a knowledge synthesis. The focus of both activities will be on improving mental wellness through effective self-directed activities that can be performed at home or in the community. Outputs from the proposed activities will be used to plan future research activities and secure funding for a knowledge synthesis that can inform current approaches to addressing mental health needs at the individual, practice, and health system levels.