Commentary: Reducing the Mortality Gap for the Mentally Ill – Rethinking How and Where We Provide Care

The mortality gap faced by Canadians living with a severe and persistent mental illness is a national scandal. If we are to change this and take advantage of the possibilities that reverse integration presents, we need to rethink the ways our systems of care function and remove barriers to accessing care while tapping the full potential of collaborative partnerships, moving to earlier interventions with this population and integrating poverty reduction into all our work. Above all, we need to be much more effective in bringing these issues into the public discourse.