At-a-glance: Bringing equity into the fold: A review of interventions to improve mental health

Abstract

In Canada, it is challenging to find examples of positive population mental health interventions that meet scientific standards of evidence. It is even more difficult to identify effective interventions that address health equity. The discrepancy between standards of evidence in the health sciences, and the evidence that can be gleaned from social exper-iments, is not new. Efforts to reconcile these differences show a general tendency toward controlled interventions in public health. However, it is possible to extract findings from quasi-experimental interventions that meet scientific standards while also showing promise of positive impacts on mental health equity. This article describes work undertaken in 2015 to begin to address this evidence gap.