Paola Ardiles is the 2012 recipient of the Dr Nancy Hall Public Policy Leadership Award for groundbreaking work in mental health and addictions. The award is named after the revered mental health advocate Dr Nancy Hall. Each year the Canadian Mental Health Association presents the award to recognise individuals or organisations that have influenced mental health policy.

Paola Ardiles is Project Manager in Education and Population Health with British Columbia Mental Health and Addictions Services in Vancouver. She has worked throughout her career to promote a shift in the way mental health is conceptualised. Her work has had impact at local, provincial and national levels in Canada. She co-authored Towards Flourishing for All —which was an early contribution to Canada’s first national mental health strategy.

“If we started to look at mental health as more than the absence of illness, we would get that mental health is actually an asset; it is an essential ingredient of living a happy and productive life,” said Paola Ardiles. “Mental health is also something we need to protect and promote as the basis for a sustainable health care system, healthier populations and safe and vibrant communities. In my view, how we create mental health and well-being is by empowering communities to create healthy public policies and supportive environments.”

Paola Ardiles was educated in Psychology and Health Promotion at the University of Toronto. She successfully completed an Executive Course on Global Health Diplomacy at the Graduate Institute in 2009. Her current role is to build and support partnerships with government, regional health authorities, community and other provincial agencies to develop health promotion capacity, in the area of mental health and addictions. She is involved in various projects related to mental health literacy, immigrant mental health, workplace mental health and mental health promotion policy.

For more information visit the Canadian Mental Health Association BC’s website.