The Atlas Institute for Veterans and Families works within the public policy space to further the positive impact it can have on the mental health and well-being of Veterans and Veteran Families.

Defining public policy

Public policy refers to the overall goals of government action and the perspectives on the most effective or preferred means to achieve them¹. These policies are created on behalf of the public in order to address societal issues. To influence public policy decisions, policy advocacy is used to represent, defend or promote (a) person(s), interest or belief². Broadly speaking, policy advocacy is the term often applied to approaches adopted by organizations in order to influence governmental decisions.

Atlas and public policy

As the Atlas Institute for Veterans and Families is a non-partisan organization, public policy work must remain within our mandate as a federally funded organization. Our policy advocacy takes place within an approach that’s heavily based on research evidence, although it is not our only consideration. Along with using research, we also consult with the Veteran and Family community to determine if a policy needs to be addressed and to create new evidence. Together, these inform and support the rebalancing of priorities in government and influence decision-making.

Within the Atlas Institute’s mandate, examples of public policy work may look like:

• Being involved in government discussions and ensuring our perspectives on key issues are heard
• Being recognized by the media, government, other organizations, and international and national stakeholders as experts as experts in issues related to Veterans and Families through the creation and mobilization of evidence
• Creating avenues to bring lived experience into policy-level discussions
• Convening relevant policy stakeholders

Related projects

Public policy scan

A public policy scan of academic and grey literature specific to mental health and well-being policies and policy recommendations that affect Veterans and Veteran Families was completed in 2024.

Public policy engagement process

An engagement process consisting of a series of conversations with stakeholders across Canada with similar mandates as intermediary organizations was completed in 2023.

Evidence support system

The Atlas Institute for Veterans and Families has collaborated with the Chronic Pain Centre of Excellence for Canadian Veterans and the Canadian Institute for Military and Veteran Health Research to support the McMaster Health Forum, which is leading the evidence support system, alongside partners such as Veterans Affairs Canada, the Department of National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces.

The evidence support system identifies and responds to evidence needs on health-related topics specific to military and Veteran communities, setting standards for high-quality evidence products and processes. It also facilitates the sharing of evidence requests and responses, ensuring that policy makers and service providers have access to the best available evidence to inform their decision making and policies. The evidence support system aims to continuously improve how evidence informs policy and practice for better health outcomes for military Veterans and their Families.

Rural and remote roundtable

Atlas hosted a roundtable in Winnipeg, MB in 2024 to explore barriers to mental health care for rural and remote Veterans and Veteran Families and possible policy solutions to address those barriers. Attendees included service providers, researchers, government policy makers, Veterans and Veteran Family members, of whom had either lived experience working or living in rural and remote communities.