International Mental Health, Disability Groups Chart Course for Transformation

Early in May, leaders from the International Initiative for Mental Health Leadership (IIMHL) and the International Initiative for Disability Leadership (IIDL) held a joint planning meeting at the American Psychological Association in Washington, D.C. One purpose of the joint meeting was to help prepare for a major organizational transformation, which will occur in July. At that time, the 2 entities will create a new organization, the Global Leadership Exchange, which will be supported by a single board and 2 advisory groups, 1 for mental health and addictions, and the other for disabilities. A second purpose of the gathering was to initiate preparations for the next international leadership exchange convening to be held in The Netherlands, June 24-28, 2024.   

Founded in 2003, the IIMHL brings together and connects mental health and addiction leaders to help spread innovation and best practice to improve mental health and addiction services around the globe. There are 11 member countries/regions:

• Australia
• England
• Northern Ireland
• Canada
• Netherlands
• New Zealand
• Republic of Ireland
• Scotland
• United States
• Sweden
• Wales

The College for Behavioral Health Leadership serves as the US Liaison to the IIMHL, in order to provide a connector between US and international behavioral health leaders. 

Founded in 2006, the IIDL shares a similar mission in member countries with respect to leaders from the disability community, families, and disability providers. The goal is to help spread innovation and promising practices to advance the lives and life opportunities of people with disabilities.

The IIMHL and the IIDL are learning collaboratives linked through a single board, and through common events and activities. Both entities emphasize the importance of including youth and emerging leaders, as well as those who have lived and living experience of behavioral or other disability conditions.

A foundational feature of the IIMHL and the IIDL is the convening of periodic international leadership exchanges, such as the one being planned for The Netherlands in 2024, to promote interaction among leaders, sharing of information on national leadership issues, and dissemination of emerging best leadership practices. Such exchanges have been held in the past in Australasia, Europe, and North America. As part of these meetings, a series of 30 “matches” is hosted on specific topics of interest to participants, such as public health strategies, rural behavioral health, city innovations, etc. These generally are held in the geographical vicinity of the primary meeting a few days prior to the larger gathering.

The IIMHL and the IIDL also support almost 2 dozen collaboratives that members can join and participate in on an ongoing basis. Several examples include an International Cities and urban Regional CoLlaborativE (I- CIRCLE) for city issues, a public health collaborative, a Women’s Leadership Group, a rural behavioral health collaborative, and many more. Currently, IIMHL is introducing a new 2SLGBTQ+ leadership learning collaborative and a new Addictions Leadership Collaborative.

Steve Appleton, the president and CEO of IIMHL and IIDL, summarized the future as follows: “In addition to the planned name change and rebrand, we will continue to strengthen current relationships and establish new partnerships to reinforce our commitment to diversity and inclusion. The future will be driven by contributions from new and emerging leaders—both within the organization and externally.”

Current and emerging behavioral health and disability leaders from participating countries can join IIMHL and IIDL as individual members. There is no charge for this membership. The following links can be employed to apply for a membership: IIMHL, IIDL. Every 2 weeks, members receive an IIMHL-IIDL update with important information from participating countries and advance announcements about IIMHL and IIDL activities.

Ron Manderscheid, PhD, is the former president and CEO of NACBHDD and NARMH, as well as an adjunct professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the USC School of Social Work.

The views expressed in Perspectives are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Behavioral Healthcare Executive, the Psychiatry & Behavioral Health Learning Network, or other Network authors. Perspectives entries are not medical advice.

Editor's note: This article was updated on June 2, 2023.