IIMHL Examination of Mental Health Leadership Competencies Across IIMHL Countries

As with other public sectors, a critical issue for mental health is a crisis in training the next generation of mental health leaders. The International Initiative for Mental Health Leadership (IIMHL), currently working with researchers and policy makers in eight English speaking ccountries, is sponsoring a series of projects to address this crisis. Its objectives are (1) to examine leadership competencies (existing or planned) across IIMHL countries to define common skills and competencies, (2)to use this in collaboration with other IIMHL project teams to develop strategies and plans for implementing them and embedding them in HR systems, university and continuing education curricula, and other venues, and (3) to learn from and integrate other public sector, non-profit, and business leadership training programs, and discuss the applicability of our findings to these sectors. The presentation will describe the IIMHL projects,present the results of the Competencies project research, summarize follow-up activities agreed upon at a Montreal meeting, and will explore with the audience how to implement these competencies and support leadership development.