Improving care and wellness in bipolar disorder: origins, evolution and future directions of a collaborative knowledge exchange network

Table 3 Health promotion case example 1: Self-management strategies

Self-management strategies	It is now widely recognized that self-management strategies (the decisions and actions an individual takes to cope with or improve their health) are critical for living well with chronic mental health conditions (e.g.,[32]). Indeed, Accreditation Canada’s ‘Standard’s for Mental Health Services’[33] require support for self-management and it is likely that a chronic care model rather than a treatment model is optimal for a waxing and waning condition such as BD[21, 34].
	CREST.BD has generated knowledge[8, 15, 24] on effective self-management strategies for people living well (with BD, identifying five key issues of importance:
	1) Self-management strategies;
	2) Sense of self/identity;
	3) Social support;
	4) Personal growth; and
	5) Addressing internalized-stigma.
	As one component of its CIHR Knowledge to Action grant, the network has worked with peer-researchers to co-produce a series of general audience summaries and workshop modules describing these research findings to disseminate nationally.

ISSN: 1752-4458