Shared Health Priorities Survey-Based Data Collection — Frequently Asked Questions

Background

  1. What is the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) and what is its mandate?

CIHI is an independent, not-for-profit, publicly funded organization that provides essential information on Canada’s health systems and the health of Canadians. CIHI provides comparable and actionable data and information that are used to support health system planning across Canada. Our stakeholders use our broad range of health system databases, measurements and standards, together with our evidence-based reports and analyses, in their decision-making processes. See CIHI’s website for more information.

  1. What is a health indicator?

A health indicator is a measure that summarizes information about a given priority topic in population health or health system performance. Examples of health indicators include Cost of a Standard Hospital Stay, Proportion of Physicians in Rural Areas and Surgical Patients Readmitted to Hospital. Watch the video Getting to Know Health Indicators (video) for more information.

Health indicators can be compared across different geographic and organizational boundaries. They also can support provinces and territories, regional health authorities and institutions to monitor the health of their populations and track how well their health systems function over time. Health indicators can help us understand whether progress is being made in areas of focus.

  1. Why is CIHI developing indicators related to mental health and substance use?

CIHI is working with federal, provincial and territorial governments to develop and report on indicators related to access to mental health and substance use services across Canada. This is part of a 10-year commitment by governmentsFootnote i, known as Shared Health Priorities, to improve access to both mental health and substance use services, and to home and community care.

Over time, these mental health and substance use indicators will tell a clearer story about access to care across Canada, identify where there are gaps in services and help to make improvements.

CIHI has released the following Shared Health Priorities indicators focused on mental health and substance use (available in CIHI’s Your Health System: In Brief web tool):

  1. Why is CIHI conducting these surveys about early intervention for mental health and substance use and navigation of related services?

As there are no existing measures of early intervention for mental health and substance use nor for navigation of related services, CIHI is collecting data for these indicators through self-reported surveys to learn more about the experiences of Canadians.

Accessing the right services at the right time in the community begins with knowing what services are available and how to navigate the system. People can experience various pathways when seeking mental health and substance use support and services, and these pathways are often not optimal. Public consultations revealed navigation to be particularly challenging for those seeking services.

Mental health and substance use concerns often begin in childhood and adolescence, and early diagnosis and intervention are important to prevent further development of disorders and to promote recovery. Recognizing the effectiveness of early interventions to treat mild to moderate mental health disorders, it is important to understand the use of existing community-based mental health and substance use services for children and youth (age 13 to 24).

Survey collection

  1. What do these surveys involve and how are they being conducted?

These surveys ask Canadians about their experiences when using or trying to access services for mental health and substance use (e.g., alcohol, drugs) within the last year (Navigation survey (PDF)) and the last 6 months (Early Intervention survey (PDF)).

These surveys are conducted in all provinces and territories across Canada. Surveys can be completed online only. Respondents to the Navigation survey are age 15 and older, and respondents to the Early Intervention survey are age 13 to 24. These surveys are voluntary and respondents are given the opportunity to enter a draw for a gift card valued at $100.

CIHI has engaged the Canadian research firm R.A. Malatest & Associates Ltd. to conduct these surveys on its behalf.

  1. What are the survey timelines?

These surveys were initially conducted in fall 2022 and again during winter and spring of 2023. Canada, provincial and territorial results from the surveys are being reported in CIHI’s Your Health System: In Brief web tool.

  1. How is CIHI protecting the privacy of survey respondents?

Individual responses are kept anonymous and are not shared with anyone, including doctors or other care providers, teachers, employers or family members. Each respondent is assigned a unique, randomly assigned ID code that does not directly link to the data they provide. These surveys do not ask for a health card number or any information that would identify respondents.

Survey responses are combined and not reported on an individual basis. The information provided in these surveys will be safely stored for 5 years and then securely destroyed. Data storage and access will follow CIHI’s strict privacy and security policies.

  1. What mental health and substance use supports are made available to survey respondents?

These surveys include questions about using or trying to access mental health and substance use health services, which may cause emotional difficulties for some individuals. The surveys include additional information about helpful resources from Wellness Together Canada, including

  • A link to their website (wellnesstogether.ca)
  • Their phone number (1-866-585-0445)
  • Immediate crisis support that can be accessed by texting WELLNESS to 741741 for adults or 686868 for youth
  1. How were these surveys developed?

An expert advisory group provided input on the survey design and methodology. This group includes individuals from across Canada with expertise in mental health and substance use, measurement, and program and policy development.

Throughout the development of these surveys, CIHI also engaged with adults and youth with lived and living experience to help define the scope of the project, to design suitable survey questions, and to better understand the impact of mental health and substance use on Canadians. This engagement included ongoing meetings with advisory groups and interviews with family members. We worked closely with CIHI’s Patient Engagement Office to ensure that best practices for engagement guided this work. More information can be found on CIHI’s Working with patients and families web page.

After these surveys were developed and prior to data collection, they were also tested with a sample of Canadians.

  1. What information and reports will CIHI be releasing based on this data? How can these be accessed?

CIHI has released the Canada, provincial and territorial results from these surveys in the Your Health System: In Brief web tool. Additional contextual information is available in the 2022 companion report (PDF) on the Shared Health Priorities page.

  1. Who do I contact if I have questions or concerns?

If you have any questions about these surveys, please email indicators@cihi.ca. 

Footnote

i.
Back to Footnote i in text
The federal government agreed to a separate arrangement with Quebec, distinct from A Common Statement of Principles on Shared Health Priorities.

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