http://www.camimh.ca/CAMIMH_News/modules/blog Mon, 16 Mar 2009 13:44:10 -0500 Last week the Management Committee of CAMIMH put out the following press release and letter to speak to the issue of mental illness and mental health as they relate to the Timothy McLean and Ashley Smith Tragedies. <br/> <br/>Read the Press Release: <a href="http://camimh.ca/files/Press%20Release_March%209_2009.pdf" class="ng_url">http://camimh.ca/files/Press%20Release_March%209_2009.pdf</a> <br/> <br/>Read the CAMIMH Commentary: <a href="http://camimh.ca/files/CAMIMH%20Commentary%20on%20Timothy%20McLean%20and%20Ashley%20Smith%20Tragedies%20-%20Final.pdf" class="ng_url">http://camimh.ca/files/CAMIMH%20Commentary%20on%20Timothy%20McLean%20and%20Ashley%20Smith%20Tragedies%20-%20Final.pdf</a> http://www.camimh.ca/CAMIMH_News/modules/blog/index.php?post_id=32 Tue, 21 Oct 2008 09:34:15 -0500 October 7, 2008 <br/> <br/>Constance McKnight <br/>Chair <br/>Canadian Alliance on Mental Illness and Mental Health <br/> <br/>141 Laurier Avenue West, Suite 701 <br/>Ottawa ON K1P 5J3 <br/> <br/>Dear Ms. McKnight, <br/> <br/>Thank you for your letter. The Liberal Party of Canada believes that in order for Canadians to remain healthy, and to sustain the quality of our public health care system, public efforts to promote health and disease prevention. <br/> <br/>In Budget 2005, we built on the initial investments to the Public Health Agency of Canada by providing $300 million over five years for the Integrated Strategy on Healthy Living and Chronic Disease. The Strategy includes a series of activities to promote healthy eating, encourage physical activity and healthy weight, which can help to prevent and control chronic diseases. One component of the Strategy targets mental health specifically, with an initial investment of $4.5 million over five years, and $1 million per <br/>year ongoing. <br/> <br/>In April 2005, the previous Liberal government announced $3.2 million funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) to fund research projects aimed at improving mental health in the workplace. <br/> <br/>That said, we understand that certain matters - such as the planning and delivery of mental health services – fall under provincial and territorial jurisdiction. <br/> <br/>However, a Liberal government will work with the Mental Health Commission to develop and launch a public awareness campaign to reduce the stigma of mental illness. <br/> <br/>In addition, we will increase the budget of the CIHR to $1.275 billion a year from the current levels of $960 million. In keeping with our record on mental health, a portion of these funds will be directed in the area of mental health research. <br/> <br/>The Liberal Party also recognizes that all Canadians must have improved and equal access to health care services, treatment, and shorter wait times. <br/> <br/>That is why a new Liberal government will invest $900 million to create a drug plan for catastrophic drug coverage to ensure Canadians can access the drug therapies they need <br/>without facing financial hardship. We will also invest $420 million to create a Doctors and Nurses Fund to help ensure all Canadians have access to a medical professional. <br/> <br/>Together, these two initiatives represent $1.3 billion in investments to strengthen the health care system enjoyed by Canadians. <br/> <br/>A new Liberal government, chiefly through the Public Health Agency of Canada and Health Canada, will work closely with the provinces and territories to develop responsive, coordinated and efficient mental health systems. The resources we provided through the Integrated Strategy on Healthy Living and Chronic Disease is an example of those kinds of collaborative efforts. <br/> <br/>Thank you again for your letter. Please don't hesitate to contact me again on this or any other matter. <br/> <br/>Sincerely, <br/>Doug Ferguson, President <br/>Liberal Party of Canada http://www.camimh.ca/CAMIMH_News/modules/blog/index.php?post_id=31 Thu, 02 Oct 2008 15:39:16 -0500 In this federal election the Canadian Alliance on Mental Illness and Mental Health is seeking the support of all the major parties on key issues that affect the mental health of all Canadians. <br/> <br/>As the national alliance of major consumer, family, community and mental health care provider groups in Canada, CAMIMH is alert to the current mental health crisis affecting individuals and families, members of the medical research community, as well as front-line workers. We are also deeply concerned about the financial constraints faced by mental health organizations as they struggle to meet increasing demand for services in the community with fewer dollars available to administer programs. <br/> <br/>We are asking all the major parties to support: <br/> <br/>1) Increased funding for national non-profit organizations that provide important mental health services; <br/>2) Investment in the mental health literacy of Canadians; <br/>3) Implementation of national standards for mental health service delivery; <br/>4) Increased investment in mental health research that focuses on recovery oriented practices, services and systems. <br/> <br/>These commitments are complementary to the current federal government investment in the Mental Health Commission of Canada, which we have welcomed and fully support. <br/>A federal government that is committed to implementing these recommendations will position Canada as a world-leader in mental health services for its citizens. <br/> <br/>The federal government, the Mental Health Commission of Canada and all stakeholders in the community must coordinate their efforts to convey the message that good mental health is possible for all Canadians, including those living with mental illness, and that recovery is possible. <br/> <br/>1. Funding Support for Canada’s Mental Illness and Mental Health Organizations <br/> <br/>The Canadian Alliance on Mental Illness and Mental Health is seeking these commitments from all major political parties to increase funding for national non-profit organizations that provide important mental health services: <br/> <br/>1) Renewal and expansion of resources for the Social Development Partnership Program (SDPP), to provide critical funding to national mental health and mental illness organizations; <br/> <br/>2) Core operational funding as well as project-based funding, with multi-year funding agreements, to ensure the long-term effectiveness of mental health organizations. <br/> <br/>These commitments should be based on the recognition that non-profit mental health organizations have become essential partners with government in the provision of services to maintain the mental health of Canadians and prevent and treat mental illness. <br/> <br/>Canada’s mental health organizations are chronically under-resourced, with a patch-work of funding arrangements. These organizations cannot support their broad range of important services through charitable contributions alone. Stable, predictable federal funding is needed to ensure they continue to play their vital role. <br/> <br/>The Social Development Partnership Program is a grants and contributions program that provides financial support to non-profit organizations working to address the social development and inclusion needs of people with disabilities, children and their families, and other vulnerable or excluded groups. Funding for the disabilities section of the program has been frozen at $11 million for over a decade. <br/> <br/>There are strong reasons for all parties to support the expansion of federal funding: <br/>•Funding to non-profit mental health partners is a highly cost-effective alternative to direct government programming. <br/>•The support of these organizations makes it possible for Canadians affected by mental health challenges to help themselves more efficiently and effectively than government programs ever could. <br/>•Non-profit partners ensure a voice and role for consumers and providers of mental health services in the development and implementation of effective programs to prevent mental illness, reduce its stigma and promote long-term recovery. <br/>•The required investments will be more than offset over time by the reduction in the health and economic burden of mental illness, as prevention and treatment improve and more affected Canadians are able to live independent, productive lives. <br/> <br/>2. Investing in the mental health literacy of Canadians <br/> <br/>The Canadian Alliance on Mental Illness and Mental Health is seeking the following commitments from all major political parties for promoting mental health literacy among Canadians: <br/> <br/>1) The development and implementation of a multifaceted national program to improve Canadians’ understanding of mental health and our capacity to prevent and manage mental health issues, drawing on recent major national and international initiatives in health and basic literacy. <br/> <br/>2) The inclusion of mental health literacy as an integral component of a comprehensive national strategy on mental health/mental illness in Canada. <br/> <br/>These commitments would be implemented through the Mental Health Commission of Canada, working in collaboration with CAMIMH and mental health stakeholders across the country. <br/> <br/>Mental health literacy is defined as the knowledge and skills that enable people to access, understand and apply information to enhance mental health. It also involves a range of skills and abilities that develop over time, within individuals and communities. This definition places an emphasis on empowerment for health, a key concept in health promotion and health literacy. <br/> <br/>Collaborative and sustained strategies and national courses of action are necessary to increase mental health literacy in this country and to formulate public policies and programs which challenge perceptions of mental illness, increase knowledge of mental health issues and provide support to Canadians in need and service providers involved. <br/> <br/>A commitment to increasing the mental health literacy of Canadians would achieve the following goals: <br/>•reduce stigma and discrimination for mental health consumers, their families, as well as researchers and service providers working with them; <br/>•improve systems capacity to support mental health; <br/>•increase the mental health literacy of all mental health care providers; <br/>•support the personal and collective empowerment of people living in Canada. <br/> <br/>3. National standards for mental health services. <br/> <br/>CAMIMH is seeking a commitment from all major political parties to implement national standards for mental health service delivery. <br/> <br/>National standards are essential to ensure that Canada achieves high quality mental health care that is effective, responsive to new research and best practices, and recovery oriented. The process for developing national standards must include the perspectives of consumers, family members and service providers, as well as mental health professionals. <br/> <br/>Developed standards would: <br/>•help to inform new services for consumers across their lifespan; <br/>•help to inform best practices for service providers and mental health systems in Canada; <br/>•be responsive to advancements in research and changes in the mental health and illness landscape; <br/>•contain a mechanism for continuous quality improvement for mental health service providers; <br/>•allow for the participation of consumers, family members and service providers in the processes of planning, developing and evaluating services; <br/>•and most importantly, be used as a measurement tool for consumers and family members to assess the quality of care being received. <br/> <br/>The Government of Australia has implemented national standards for mental health service delivery. For additional information please consult “National Standards for Mental Health Services”, Government of Australia. 1996: <br/><a href="http://www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/mental-pubs-n-servstds-toc~mental-pubs-n-servstds-for">http://www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/mental-pubs-n-servstds-toc~mental-pubs-n-servstds-for</a> <br/> <br/>4. Increase investment in mental health research that focuses on recovery oriented practices, services and systems. <br/> <br/>The Canadian Alliance on Mental Illness and Mental Health is asking all major political parties to commit to improving funding for mental health research by: <br/> <br/>1) Significantly increasing the overall level of federal funding for mental health research to better reflect the level of mental illness in Canada. <br/>2) Establishing and implementing a comprehensive national research agenda for mental health that emphasizes translating research into practical, effective outcomes for Canadians living with mental health issues. <br/>3) Committing to fund research emphasizing recovery oriented practices, services and systems. <br/> <br/>Mental health research currently receives less than 5 percent of Canadian health research funding, yet mental illness directly affects 20 percent of our population. And although Canada has some of the best experts in the field of mental health working with the Mental Health Commission of Canada and other institutions, we have come up short in investing in research targeting practices, services and systems that have real impact on the lives Canadians living with mental health issues. <br/> <br/>Research funding must be increased to more closely correspond to the impact of mental health conditions on Canadian society and be focused on the translation of knowledge into effective, recovery oriented practices and processes that place the mental health consumer at the centre of the agenda. Every significant advance we make in research on mental health and illness brings the potential for increased quality of life for Canadians living with mental health issues as well as major cost-savings to our economy. <br/> <br/>Working collaboratively, the federal government, together with CAMIMH and other stakeholders, must establish and implement a national research agenda that includes targets, benchmarks, and measurement systems to: <br/> <br/>•help direct research dollars to priority areas, with a special emphasis on recovery-oriented models; <br/>•foster a climate of interest in mental health research; <br/>•increase the volume and quality of research output that effectively translates knowledge into best practices and service delivery for the consumer; <br/>•improve knowledge transfer from researchers to service providers, consumers and their families; <br/>•develop long-term funding for mental health research. <br/> <br/> <br/>For more information please contact: <br/>Diana Devlin <br/>Communications Coordinator <br/><a href="mailto:ddevlin@camimh.ca">ddevlin@camimh.ca</a> http://www.camimh.ca/CAMIMH_News/modules/blog/index.php?post_id=30 Thu, 02 Oct 2008 15:31:50 -0500 Tips and Tools for Government Relations – Federal Election 2008 <br/> <br/>Things you can do to press for action on mental health and illness <br/>The success of CAMIMH’s campaign depends on the support of our membership who has direct experience of the issues faced by Canadians living with mental health issues. Here are some important things you can do to help build support for action on mental health and illness. <br/> <br/>1. Send a message to your candidates and spread the word! <br/>Send a quick and easy e-mail message or handwritten note to the candidates in your riding as well as the party leaders. Messages from voters like you can have real influence on candidates and their parties. The more people who support our campaign, the greater the impact we will have. Encourage your friends, family and co-workers to get involved - there’s strength in numbers! <br/> <br/>2. Ask the candidates where they stand <br/>When the candidates or their representatives come to your door, or you meet them at campaign functions, use the opportunity to ask them whether they will support strong action on mental health and illness. To help you, we’ve prepared key issues and brief backgrounders outlining CAMIMH’s recommendations during this election. <br/> <br/>3. Raise mental health and illness issues at &quot;all candidates&quot; meetings <br/>All–candidates meetings are a great place to raise to raise issues with the candidates. Gather a group of interested friends or co-workers for moral support and head off – with copies of our backgrounders in hand. <br/> <br/>Be sure to talk to the organizers of the all–candidates session either beforehand or at the meeting when you arrive, to find out how you can get a question put to the candidates. Some meetings have an open format, allowing questions from anyone attending. Others require written questions in advance. If your life has been directly affected by mental illness, you might briefly mention that when you speak to add a personal note to your question. <br/> <br/>Usually the time just before and just after the meeting will provide good opportunities for chatting with the candidates about our issues. These interactions are usually brief, so try to make your message to the candidates brief and to the point (e.g. - Hi, I’m ___________. I hope I can count on your support for strong action to support increased funding for mental health research). Short and sweet is the best bet. <br/> http://www.camimh.ca/CAMIMH_News/modules/blog/index.php?post_id=29 Mon, 05 May 2008 12:49:17 -0500 Improved mental health literacy key to critical health issue warns national alliance at opening of Mental Health Week <br/> <br/>Ottawa, Ontario - May 5, 2008 <br/> <br/>The Canadian Alliance on Mental Illness and Mental Health (CAMIMH) today marked the opening of Mental Health Week in Canada by highlighting the critical need to improve the mental health literacy of Canadians. Nearly 6 million Canadians are likely to experience a diagnosable mental illness over their lifetimes and 3% of Canadians likely to live with a serious mental illness. CAMIMH believes that increasing understanding of mental health issues will pave the way for reducing the stigma associated with this critical health issue and improving the prevention and treatment of mental illness. <br/> <br/>“Mental health is the most important health issue confronting Canadians today,” said Constance McKnight, Chair of the Canadian Alliance on Mental Illness and Mental Health (CAMIMH). “We are working to increase the mental health literacy of Canadians, and support the Mental Health Commission of Canada in their effort to reduce the stigma associated with mental illness and to develop a national strategy for mental health and mental illness.” <br/> <br/>In 2007 the Alliance’s Mental Health Literacy Project assessed what Canadians know and how they think about mental health and mental illness through extensive surveying and focus groups. The findings were compared to data gathered in other countries, and found that Canadians’ mental health literacy seems to be on par with citizens in other countries, and it is recognized that two-thirds of Canadians know that mental health problems are common. However, while most Canadians know that mental health issues are common and seem to have a good understanding of causes and triggers, stigma and shame still play a great part in why people do not actively seek help. <br/> <br/>The Mental Health Commission of Canada has applauded CAMIMH'S efforts to develop a national strategy on Mental Health Literacy. “Mental Health Literacy is an essential element of a comprehensive mental health strategy and an integral element of addressing stigma and discrimination. The Commission looks forward to a spirit of collaboration as we collectively move towards the development of a national strategy on mental health and mental illness in Canada”, said Michael Kirby, Chair of the Commission. <br/> <br/>CAMIMH has now developed a national framework aimed at improving the mental health literacy of Canadians and has begun to forge partnerships at the national, provincial and regional levels focusing on priorities involving children and youth, First Nations, M&eacute;tis and Inuit peoples, and frontline medical/social/emergency workers in its initial efforts. <br/> <br/>In the fall, CAMIMH coordinates Mental Illness Awareness Week (MIAW) in cooperation with its member organizations and many other supporters across Canada. This annual national public education campaign was designed to help open the eyes of Canadians to the reality of mental illness. It also acknowledges public figures who champion the issue, and profiles Canadians living with mental illness. This year Mental Illness Awareness Week will run from October 5-11. <br/> <br/>“It is our hope that through campaigns like Mental Illness Awareness Week and Mental Health Week in Canada, CAMIMH can help spread the message that good mental health is possible for all Canadians, including those living with mental illness, and the hope for recovery must never be dismissed,” said Ms. McKnight. <br/> <br/>About the Canadian Alliance on Mental Illness and Mental Health <br/> <br/>Established in 1998, CAMIMH is the national voice for action on mental illness and mental health. It is an alliance of 19 national organizations whose activities span the broad continuum of mental health. They represent: consumers and their families; health care and social service providers; professional associations; and community and research organizations. Together, they constitute a vibrant network of national, provincial and community-based organizations dedicated to serving the mental health needs of the people of Canada. CAMIMH's mission is to promote and facilitate the development, adoption, and implementation of a national action plan on mental illness and mental health and to place these issues on the national health and social policy agendas. <br/> <br/>- 30 - <br/> <br/>For more information, or to schedule interviews please contact: <br/>Diana Devlin, Communications Co-ordinator <br/>(613) 232 8218, (613) 324 0565 http://www.camimh.ca/CAMIMH_News/modules/blog/index.php?post_id=25