Since the 1970s mental health consumer-run organizations have come to offer not only mutual support, but they have also adopted
agendas for broader social change. Despite an awareness of the need for system level efforts that create supportive environments
for their members, there has been limited research demonstrating how their system level activities can be documented or their
impacts evaluated. The purpose of this paper is to feature a method of evaluating systems change activities and impacts. The
paper is based on a longitudinal study evaluating four mental health consumer-run organizations in Ontario, Canada. The study
tracked system level activities and impacts using both qualitative and quantitative methodologies. The article begins by describing
the development and implementation of these methods. Next it offers a critical analysis of the methods used. It concludes
by reflecting on three lessons learned about capturing system level activities and impacts of mental health consumer-run organizations.
Keywords Systems change - Evaluation methods - Community mental health - Participatory action research