Culture Counts: A Guide to Best Practices for Developing Health Promotion Initiatives in Mental Health and Substance Use with Ethnocultural Communities

• People from ethnocultural communities do not participate in health promotion, initiatives as much as people from the general population.
• Health promotion initiatives created for the mainstream culture may not work as well for ethnocultural communities.
• Health promotion initiatives created with little or no involvement of ethnocultural communities are unlikely to be effective in those communities.
• Re-thinking old ways and assumptions and being open to working with ethnocultural communities on their own terms is an important step in increasing participation of these communities in health promotion initiatives, particularly in the areas of mental health and substance use.
• Look for opportunities throughout the process for building the community’s ability to address its mental health and substance use concerns on its own.
• Look for opportunities throughout the process for building your own ability and that of the organization you represent to better serve the needs of ethnocultural communities in the areas of mental health and substance use.
• Keep the Ottawa Charter’s definition of health promotion in mind during the development process; both the process and the initiative itself should provide opportunities for community members to “increase control over, and to improve, their health.”

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