World Mental Health Day
Lived experience is expertise. On World Mental Health Day, HATA's Stigma-Free program asks what youth support in Winnipeg looks like when young people help shape it.
World Mental Health Day 2026: Lived experiences heard. Real voices, real change.
Every year, World Mental Health Day asks the world to pay attention. This year it asks for something harder: to move from listening to action.
People with lived experience are often invited to share their stories, but far fewer are invited to help make decisions. WHO's Mental Health Atlas 2024 reported that 80% of countries with a mental health policy or plan consulted people with lived experience. Only 45% reported ongoing collaboration in planning, delivery or monitoring of services, and 37% included them in training for primary health care workers. Being consulted is not the same as being included.
What this looks like at HATA
Our Stigma-Free Mental Health Program works with youth and families in Winnipeg through awareness workshops, resilience training and peer support circles. In those circles, young people talk openly with peers, in confidential spaces led by trained facilitators, without fear of judgment.
Our approach is guided by lived experience. We want to keep earning that description by asking the people we serve what would make support work better.
Tell us what would help
If you are a young person, a parent, a teacher or a neighbour in Winnipeg, tell us what would make mental health support work better. You do not have to share a personal story.
Share your thoughts through our contact page: hatainc.ca/contact
Source: WHO Mental Health Atlas 2024. Learn more at who.int