In Canada, at least 5 percent of the population suffers from a serious, persistent mental illness such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. While recent years have seen many changes and improvements in the way we respond to the needs of mentally ill persons, there remain divisions of opinion among stakeholder groups about the way mental health services are delivered.

Community Mental Health in Canada offers a timely, critical overview of the provision of public mental health services in Canada, looking at where we have come from, the current situation, and where we may be heading. Concise, yet comprehensive, coverage includes:

• the prevalence and impact of mental illness in Canada
• the complementary and conflicting interests of stakeholder groups, such as mental health professionals, clients, families, government, and drug companies
• current and developing initiatives in treatment, rehabilitation, housing, and criminal justice programs
• the clinical benefits and costs of particular interventions, among them pharmacotherapy and cognitive-behavioural treatments
• the recovery model
• diversity and cultural competence
• the legal and ethical basis of mental health practice, particularly as it applies to the use of coercion and involuntary treatment

Community Mental Health in Canada fills a gap in the literature in its analysis of both clinical mental health practice as well as the structural context within which it is situated. An indispensable resource for students, practitioners, and policymakers, it also is essential reading for all those interested in how services are provided to our most vulnerable citizens.

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Simon Davis is Director of the Grandview-Woodlands Mental Health Team for the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority. He lectures in the School of Social Work and Family Studies at the University of British Columbia.