The Ontario Medical Association (OMA), the body that represents the province’s physicians, has called on the provincial government to eliminate the three-month wait time for people applying for Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP) coverage. The current waiting period applies to most new applicants and former Ontario residents who have returned after living outside Canada for […]Continue readingOMA calls on government to end three-month wait for OHIP applicants
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At Risk Teens run Mississauga marathons
Mississauga teens faced with mental health issues are training for 5k and 10k marathons to be held on May 14th and 15th. The Mississauga Marathons have become an annual event for the Credit Valley Hospital Run Group (CVH Run Group) and a focal point for teens participating in the program. Teens that have been referred […]Continue readingAt Risk Teens run Mississauga marathons
Psychiatric survivor and advocate appointed to Consent and Capacity Board
Pat Capponi, a psychiatric survivor and prominent advocate for the rights of persons with mental illness, has been appointed to Ontario’s Consent and Capacity Board. The Board is an independent panel established by the provincial government to conduct hearings on a person’s capacity to consent to or refuse treatment, and determine whether Ontarians receiving psychiatric […]Continue readingPsychiatric survivor and advocate appointed to Consent and Capacity Board
Health Quality Ontario announced
The former Ontario Health Quality Council and five other health care improvement organizations have been consolidated into one organization called Health Quality Ontario (HQO). The other organizations included in the merger are the: Medical Advisory Secretariat of the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care Ontario Health Technology Advisory Committee Ontario Health Technology Evaluation Fund […]Continue readingHealth Quality Ontario announced
OCAN Update
The Ontario Common Assessment of Need (OCAN) Steering Committee has reviewed the functional centres using Core OCAN. Core OCAN is a standalone subset of the assessment tool; it captures information on consumers and their support services. After the review, the decision was made to concentrate available resources on rolling out OCAN in the 15 functional […]Continue readingOCAN Update
Rating need for care in the Ontario Common Assessment of Need: A reliability assessment
In 2008, pilot testing of the Ontario Common Assessment of Need (OCAN) decision-making tool began in the community mental health sector in Ontario with the aim of standardizing, enhancing, and improving the efficacy of the client assessment process. The pilot implementation has since expanded across the province, led by the Community Care Information Management project […]Continue readingRating need for care in the Ontario Common Assessment of Need: A reliability assessment
New booklet for LGBTQ+ newcomers
The Among Friends Initiative has released a resource booklet for LGBTQ+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, transsexual, queer, questioning, intersex, two-spirited, allies and more) newcomer communities. Among Friends is a collaboration between Access Alliance Multicultural Health and Community Services, CultureLink, and the 519 Church Street Community Centre, with funding from the Ontario Trillium Foundation. It aims […]Continue readingNew booklet for LGBTQ+ newcomers
Weight bias and physical activity promotion
Practitioners can learn about the impact of weight bias in a recent article published through the Alberta Centre for Active Living. Weight bias, or discriminatory attitudes toward individuals based on their body size and weight, can create barriers to their participation in daily living and physical activity. Weight bias among practitioners can translate to reduced […]Continue readingWeight bias and physical activity promotion
New toolkit for responding to high-profile incidents involving persons with serious mental illnesses (USA)
The National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors and the Council of State Governments Justice Centre has released a new document“Responding to a High-Profile Tragic Incident Involving a Person with a Serious Mental Illness: a Toolkit for State Mental Health Commissioners”. This toolkit is written for individuals working in the mental health field who […]Continue readingNew toolkit for responding to high-profile incidents involving persons with serious mental illnesses (USA)
Personal recovery concept used to develop successful program evaluation (Israel)
A recent article in the Israel Journal of Psychiatry and Related Sciencesdiscusses a new way of using the concept of recovery in clinical settings to assess the success of mental health services. The article details the difference between traditional (clinical) approaches to recovery and personal recovery, as defined by individuals with mental health issues. While traditional […]Continue readingPersonal recovery concept used to develop successful program evaluation (Israel)