Collaborating Communities & Organizations
Together we can stop the devastation of suicide.
COLlaborators
$1.6M+
Deployed (donations, fundraising & grants)
80%
Improvement to quality & coordination of care
25,000+
Volunteer Hours
TUF has spent ten years moving the latest research on a community’s role in improving the emotional and mental well-being of its residents into action. Creating significant change in a community demands a holistic and systematic approach to breaking down siloes, understanding the barriers to obtaining support, understanding community service provider gaps and cost-effective solutions for filling them, and targeted, community-driven strategies to eliminate these siloes, barriers, and gaps.
TUF has worked tirelessly on solutions that will change the story for the people we love. Together, we can stop the devastation of suicide.
The Community begins to inform our work
In 2018, TUF was the catalyst for, established, and funded the year-long Airdrie Mental Health Task Force (MHTF), with representation from 19 community key stakeholders. Key players included AHS, RCMP, Rocky View Schools, Children Services, Airdrie’s Mayor Peter Brown, and Dr. David Swann. The recommendations continue to inform Thumbs Up’s work.
The first phase of harmonized health
Throughout 2020 and 2021, 45 individuals and 70 family members participated in our Harmonized Health project which tested the effectiveness of a client-first community-based model to improve mental health outcome. Individual clients reported a more than 80% improvement in their quality of care and coordination of care. Families reported a 93% satisfaction with the Families Helping Families Program, and in almost all cases, a family’s developmental strengths improved.
The second phase of harmonized health
In 2023, TUF received two-year funding to implement a Community Care Team and create a future that hasn’t existed, where every investment improves outcomes, every effort has purpose, and every voice matters. The approach allows everyone can practice to the height of their skill sets, maximizing value for individuals, families, communities and the system itself. On a scale of 1 to 10, individuals rated their overall experience with Harmonized Health as a 9.3, with a 9.4 rating in quality of care and a 9.4 rating of their experience compared to past experiences. The independent project evaluation report notes that the approach works and is ready for expansion, guided by strategic planning and evidence-based implementation science principles.
Creating meaningful change
Thumbs Up Foundation’s work is guided by these differentiators:
Authentic Voices
Effective systems start with people. System design must be guided by those who have been through the existing systems, can tell you what works, what doesn’t, and attest to the impact of new approaches.
Connected Care Strategies
Effective care doesn’t push you out the door or tell you to wait 6 months. Optimum emotional health is a life-long journey, with critical moments along the way. Each support system or resource should flow into the next and connection with these services should provide unhindered pathways to care.
Changing Outcomes For Albertans
Real change comes from innovative solutions for communities across Alberta. We have tested and implemented new ways to connect and coordinate community-based services.
And it’s working…
