Mental Health Notes
Marion Quigley, CEO of the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) Sudbury/Manitoulin Branch, and Shana Calixte, Executive Director of NISA/Northern Initiative for Social Action, are being recognized as NE LHIN Healthy Change Champions for their work to create healthier, more inclusive and resilient communities in Sudbury and throughout the North East.
The Minding Our Bodies project has released an overview on the relationship of nature to physical and mental health. “The Nurture of Nature: Natural Settings and Their Mental Health Benefits” offers a brief review of recent research examining the impacts of natural environments specifically on mental health and well-being.
The government’s social policy focus includes continued investment in health care, education, the environment and some modest gains in social assistance in their recently released 2013 Budget.
The Government of Ontario has asked the Law Commission of Ontario (LCO) to explore how Registered Disability Savings Plans (RDSP) can be made more accessible to people with disabilities. The work will examine how adults with developmental or other mental disabilities can participate in the program without completing an expensive competency assessment.
Research has found that homeless youth have high rates of mental health problems and substance use, but studies have never looked at how many have both of these issues together. Researchers interviewed 150 street-involved 16- to 21-year-olds in Toronto. The youth answered questions about their mental health and drug use, as well as questions about their experience with homelessness.
Many Canadians have been affected by addiction and mental illness. Findings from a recent report revealed that 80 per cent of those surveyed stated that they have either a friend or a family member who has experienced mental illness and/or addiction. This finding shows there is a wide sector of the population who understand, and can possibly even help, with care and recovery.
Victims in Nova Scotia will be better protected and cyberbullies will be held accountable for their actions, with Nova Scotia legislative changes, including a new Cyber-Safety Act introduced on April 25, 2013.
The Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care (CTFPHC) has revised their 2005 guidelines on routine screening for depression in primary care settings for adults who are at average risk, or who have characteristics that may increase their risk of depression, if they have no apparent symptoms.
The Representative for Children and Youth in British Columbia (RCYBC) has released a report that calls on the provincial government to address urgent youth needs for direct mental health services in B.C.
New information about the population of Canada has been released by Statistics Canada (StatsCan) about Aboriginal people and immigration in Canada. This new data comes from the 2011 National Household Survey (NHS).
