OTTAWA, ON, Oct. 18, 2022 /CNW/ – Canada’s Premiers immediately introduced the recipients of the Council of the Federation (COF) Award for Innovation in Psychological Well being and Addictions Care. Introduced in every province and territory for progressive initiatives that positively impression psychological well being and addictions care, the award acknowledges people and organizations excelling within the area.
The recipients of the Award for Innovation in Psychological Well being and Addictions Care are:
- Day Therapy Psychological Well being and Addictions Program – Kainai Wellness Centre (Blood Tribe Division of Well being) – Alberta
- Cherokee Bent – British Columbia
- KIDTHINK Kids’s Psychological Well being Centre Inc. – Manitoba
- St. John’s Standing of Ladies Council Managed Alcohol Program – Newfoundland and Labrador
- Acceptance and Dedication Remedy Tele-Counselling for Household Caregivers – Dr. Pamela Durepos, Nicole Cormier, Chandra MacBean – New Brunswick
- Supporting Wellbeing – Northwest Territories
- Strongest Households Institute, SFI Companion App – Nova Scotia
- Mary Ugyuk – Nunavut
- The Path Residence – LOFT (Leap of Religion Collectively) Neighborhood Service – Ontario
- Peer Help Program, Canadian Psychological Well being Affiliation – PEI Division– Prince Edward Island
- Équipe-toi : accompagne un proche en santé mentale – Québec
- Mentally Protected Minecraft Server (MS²) – CMHA-SK – Saskatchewan
- Chris Spencer – Yukon
“On behalf of all Premiers, I lengthen congratulations to the recipients of this award for his or her diligent and progressive work within the area of psychological well being and addictions care,” stated Heather Stefanson, Manitoba Premier and COF Chair. “It’s essential that we proceed to have open conversations on psychological well being and easy methods to finest help the numerous Canadians who’re impacted by psychological well being challenges.”
Every award recipient will obtain a certificates, signed by the Premier of their province or territory, in addition to a $5,000 prize to advance the awarded initiative and foster additional innovation.
The Council of the Federation contains all 13 provincial and territorial Premiers. It allows Premiers to work collaboratively, kind nearer ties, foster constructive relationships amongst governments, and present management on vital points that matter to Canadians.
BACKGROUNDER: AWARD RECIPIENT INFORMATION
Recipients of the COF Award for Innovation in Psychological Well being and Addictions Care
Day Therapy Psychological Well being and Addictions Program – Kainai Wellness Centre (Blood Tribe Division of Well being) – Alberta
Blood Tribe members have been affected by opioid and different substance use in the neighborhood. The Day Therapy Psychological Well being and Addictions Program, based in 2014, entails a professional crew, progressive approaches that handle deep rooted points, the knowledge of elders and data keepers, and conventional ceremonies as a part of their strategy. This system is designed to offer consciousness, schooling, and help to those that are struggling with illicit substance and alcohol use issues who usually are not attending residential therapy packages. Shoppers purchase a wide range of expertise to deal with drug and alcohol associated urges. This system shares sources on a number of key matters: habit consciousness, physiology of habit, relapse prevention, grief and loss, trauma, compassion fatigue, anger administration, wholesome parenting, wholesome relationships, and coping methods, amongst others. So far, over 341 members have benefitted from this program, and there was therapeutic on the particular person, household and neighborhood stage.
Cherokee Bent – British Columbia
Cherokee Bent was born on the unceded and conventional lands of the Nlaka’pamux individuals. At 18 years previous, Cherokee felt referred to as by way of her cultural teachings to turn into a pacesetter in Vancouver’s psychological well being and substance use restoration communities, with involvement in each grownup and youth therapy centres. By way of her work with Vancouver Coastal Well being, Cherokee has designed and delivered curricula to healthcare suppliers about offering culturally secure care to youth who use substances and instructing healthcare suppliers easy methods to higher work with Indigenous youth from rural and distant communities. Cherokee has co-written and starred in an academic movie used to show healthcare staff about utilizing cultural security and humility when working with individuals who use substances.
KIDTHINK Kids’s Psychological Well being Centre Inc. – Manitoba
KIDTHINK gives a mannequin of care that features psychologists, psychiatrists, social staff, occupational therapists, and different professionals to create a really multi-disciplinary crew that works collectively to offer youngsters and their households the best normal of care. Throughout the Consumer Care Subsidy Program, the KIDTHINK multi-disciplinary medical crew gives roughly 13 hours of no-cost, evidence-based psychological well being intervention for youngsters ages 12 and underneath and their households who’re low-income standing. This consists of offering providers for a wide range of delicate to reasonable social, emotional, and behavioural challenges. Psychological well being issues or challenges addressed embody, however usually are not restricted to, nervousness, despair, behavioural issues, ADHD and studying difficulties/disabilities. KIDTHINK acknowledges the significance of lowering limitations to accessing psychological well being providers, the main focus is on offering well timed and preventative interventions by providing providers to youngsters with or with no prognosis.
St. John’s Standing of Ladies Council Managed Alcohol Program (MAP) – Newfoundland and Labrador
The Managed Alcohol Program in Newfoundland and Labrador is a pilot that started in 2021. This system operates throughout the St. John’s Standing of Ladies Council to help ladies and nonbinary people who expertise dangers and harms associated to alcohol use. MAP’s hurt discount strategy gives a secure and secure provide of alcohol to members, together with social and healthcare help. MAP works with Japanese Well being to evaluate participant eligibility, decide a secure dose of alcohol, and supply ongoing reassessment and first healthcare providers. Whereas managed alcohol packages are more and more acknowledged as helpful instruments, the St. John’s Standing of Ladies Council’s MAP is exclusive in its concentrate on ladies and nonbinary people and affords an progressive mixture of outreach supply, residential programming, and satellite tv for pc web site pick-up alongside analysis and studying. Along with direct advantages to members, MAP shares learnings from this pilot extensively with the intention to extend managed alcohol providers throughout different organizations and for extra populations. MAP has created a mannequin of collaboration throughout providers that may set an instance for others curious about pursuing comparable work.
Acceptance and Dedication Remedy Tele-Counselling for Household Caregivers – Dr. Pamela Durepos, Nicole Cormier, Chandra MacBean – New Brunswick
The Acceptance and Dedication Remedy (ACT) Tele-counselling for household caregivers of an individual dwelling with dementia in New Brunswick was developed and launched by Dr. Pamela Durepos of the College of New Brunswick, and Nicole Cormier and Chandra MacBean of the Alzheimer Society of New Brunswick. The ACT tele-counselling program can also be the primary ACT program for caregivers of individuals with dementia in Canada and its general intention is to enhance entry to top quality psychological well being providers (e.g., psychotherapy) for all caregivers of individuals with dementia in Canada. Extra particularly, ACT is an individualized program that screens members for present despair, nervousness, and stress ranges to be able to establish individuals who can not watch for remedy and will require fast psychological well being care. This service is supplied in each official languages for gratis utilizing expertise (akin to phone, textual content, or videoconference) to be able to cut back limitations to entry and to evaluate whether or not members are assigned to obtain traditional care or the ACT program. ACT is an acceptance and mindfulness-based type of psychotherapy completely different from cognitive behavioural remedy. ACT has confirmed efficient at lowering despair and nervousness and in growing acceptance and psychological flexibility. A examine to judge the potential advantages and feasibility of offering ACT tele-counselling to caregivers is underway. This system is predicted to develop past New Brunswick.
Supporting Wellbeing – Northwest Territories
Supporting Wellbeing (SWB) is a coaching program being developed by an Indigenous psychological well being professional with the intention of offering instruments for land-based program suppliers. Led by a Steering Committee of on the land (OTL) leaders, this system will higher put together OTL suppliers to mitigate and reply to psychological well being challenges in distant environments. Given the prevalence of trauma skilled due to colonization, it’s not unusual for members (and workers) to expertise psychological well being challenges whereas on the land. Throughout coaching, OTL leaders will find out about matters associated to the planning and supply of trauma knowledgeable OTL packages, together with intergenerational trauma, suicide intervention, battle decision, and participant aftercare. After finishing the coaching, OTL leaders can be higher outfitted to help individuals in misery, mitigate dangers, and reduce burnout. This, in flip, will enhance members’ capacity to securely have interaction in and profit from OTL packages. SWB will strengthen OTL packages throughout the NWT, enhance the emotional intelligence of neighborhood members, improve neighborhood capability for mutual help, and additional the resurgence of Indigenous cultures, languages, and methods of being.
Strongest Households Institute, SFI Companion App – Nova Scotia
Strongest Households Institute, based mostly in Decrease Sackville, is an award-winning charity whose concentrate on innovation and analysis has led to pioneering a brand new approach of delivering psychological well being packages that reduces waitlists and makes care extra accessible. Strongest Households Institute gives bilingual evidence-based psychological well being providers to youngsters, youth, adults, and households utilizing phone teaching coupled with on-line or printed help supplies. Their Companion App was developed to combine with their e-mental well being platform and allows purchasers to profit from entry to their on-line academic platforms even whereas working offline, serving to to bridge the digital divide.
Mary Ugyuk – Nunavut
Mary Ugyuk has been employed as Wellness Coordinator for Hamlet of Taloyoak since 2010. Initially mentoring youth and pre-natal well being teams, Mary has labored to develop present packages and to create new ones that profit her neighborhood, together with: Grownup Drop In (a secure and sober assembly place seven evenings per week), Elder’s Cabin, mobility scooters, a soup kitchen, an Elder and youth middle, a summer time on-the-land tradition camp, an annual shoreline and neighborhood clean-up, a neighborhood volunteer annual Christmas dinner, “The Turkey Has Landed” Christmas frozen turkey and meals voucher program, Lily Love and Elder Love packages, weekly Elder’s tea and weekly Elder’s Tradition Day, Elder’s driver program, and Elder’s radio present. Mary has been instrumental in creating and driving neighborhood wellness packages from a neighborhood perspective, fairly than a territorial or regional focus, with the distinctive onsite capacity to adapt if changes are wanted to make sure efficient and practical program supply.
The Path Residence – LOFT (Leap of Religion Collectively) Neighborhood Service – Ontario
LOFT (Leap of Religion Collectively) Neighborhood Providers’ “The Path Residence” is a supportive housing mannequin specializing in transitioning sufferers with complicated wants again to their neighborhood. Piloted, examined, and expanded throughout the populations and geographies served by LOFT, this mannequin is guided by two targets: addressing unmet wants and system gaps by way of working collaboratively with well being system companions, and offering distinctive and specialised need-driven care that allows individuals to remain safely in the neighborhood. This progressive mannequin of care is designed to help people going through complicated psychological well being challenges, habit, dementia, and responsive behaviours together with bodily well being and care wants who not should be within the hospital, however proceed to require ongoing care. The Path Residence gives a chance for weak people to stay with dignity and is profitable in lowering the variety of Alternate Stage of Care (ALC) charges in hospital.
Peer Help Program, Canadian Psychological Well being Affiliation, PEI Division – Prince Edward Island
The Peer Help Program, operated by CMHA PEI, assists people experiencing psychological well being and addictions points by offering a skilled mentor with lived expertise and restoration historical past to lend help, steerage and encourage hope for others experiencing comparable conditions. This program at present employs peer help specialists who host peer help teams and one-on-one periods, and accompany purchasers to appointments. The peer help specialists empathize with the battle and emotional ache which will accompany psychological sickness and share their ideas and perception on the trail to restoration. They supply help to purchasers by way of advocacy, housing sources, suicide prevention, coping methods, help teams and assist to bridge the hole between the shopper and the accessible psychological well being providers on PEI. The general profit to Islanders and Canadians is clear. Whereas there are comparable packages elsewhere in Canada, the success of the Peer Help Program on PEI serves for example mannequin for different provinces and territories.
Équipe-toi : accompagne un proche en santé mentale – Québec
The Affiliation québécoise des mother and father et amis de la personne atteinte de maladie mentale (AQPAMM) helps households and pals of individuals dwelling with a psychological well being dysfunction. The Affiliation rapidly reacted to the circumstances imposed by the pandemic to proceed providing providers and attain these affected, specifically these younger individuals who had been particularly onerous hit on this context. With the help of companions (Bell Let’s Discuss and the Basis of Larger Montreal), AQPAMM has developed interactive on-line coaching instruments accessible on cellphones for younger individuals aged 13 to 25, referred to as “Équipe-toi: accompagne un proche en santé mentale” in addition to coaching for youth staff, “Équipe-toi: accompagne un jeune en santé mentale”. By specializing in younger individuals’s most popular technique of communication and counting on progressive methods akin to peer-help and self-care, AQPAMM contributes to the event of information within the area of psychological well being and affords instruments to younger individuals to assist them deal with complicated conditions associated to psychological well being.
Mentally Protected Minecraft Server (MS²) – CMHA-SK – Saskatchewan
Mentally Protected Minecraft Server (MS²) is an interactive pc gaming program that combats cyber-bullying and its impression on psychological well being. Developed by the Saskatchewan division of the Canadian Psychological Well being Affiliation (CMHA-SK), MS² was created and programmed by Saskatchewan youth with lived psychological well being issues and takes into consideration issues which are each significant and triggering for them. Chats are monitored by CMHA-SK Youth Coaches, psychological well being staff from CMHA branches across the province, youth peer supporters, and volunteers. Chat areas permit youth to confidentially ask a psychological well being employee questions on psychological well being or the place/easy methods to entry providers. There are additionally Saskatchewan helplines added within the in-game. As well as, there’s a house for digital teams to convene and find out about psychological well being instruments. A psychological well being tip seems on the nook of the MS² display each ten minutes, and there are artistic occasions to have fun Psychological Well being Week and problem gamers’ creativity.
Chris Spencer – Yukon
Chris Spencer is a passionate Whitehorse resident who cares concerning the psychological well being and wellness of their neighborhood. Chris based the Yukon Disc-versity Guild, a disc golf membership designed to be a secure house for ladies and the 2SLGBTQQIA+ neighborhood and youth. Chris selected to centre the membership round disc golf for the game’s advantages of being out in nature, offering exercise and socialisation for individuals who battle with their psychological wellness, and due to the low limitations of value and health stage to take part. Extra advantages from the creation of the membership have been the event of latest neighborhood function fashions who present inspiration and hope for younger individuals, safer out of doors areas, and illustration of wholesome life for ladies and 2SLGBTQQIA+ individuals. Chris additionally based the “Feed your inside mild” peer help group for individuals with identified and undiagnosed consuming issues. Chris sits on Queer Yukon’s advisory committee for non-binary and trans individuals and can also be concerned within the CMHA Attain Out Help Line.
SOURCE Canada’s Premiers
For additional info: Olivia Billson, Senior Supervisor of Communications, Workplace of the Premier, Authorities of Manitoba, (431) 777-6675, [email protected]; Paola St-Georges, Supervisor, Occasions and Communications Council of the Federation Secretariat, (343) 961-5811, [email protected]
