Canadian Mental Health Association, Ontario Division’s Living Life to the Full team and Baycrest Rotman Research Institute clinician scientist Dr. Nasreen Khatri have created a webinar series to discuss the mental health impact of COVID-19.
Webinars feature topics related to loneliness, young adult mental health, older adult advocacy, and the mental health fallout of the pandemic.
Webinar descriptions and audio recordings are below.
Being alone together: The social pandemic of loneliness during COVID-19 (Audio)
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Social distancing, while necessary during the COVID-19 pandemic, creates challenges for all of us to connect during an unprecedented time of global health and economic crises. Learn how to optimize social connection and get the emotional support you need and deserve now.
Life, interrupted: Young adult mental health during COVID-19 (Audio)
School and placements are cancelled. Graduations and celebrations are cancelled. The latest jobs numbers show that unemployment among youth aged 15-24 has increased by nearly 400,000 or 15.4 per cent. Depression and anxiety rates are up. Learn how to move from a “cancel” mindset to a “can do” mindset and let’s weather this pandemic together.
Valuing elders: Advocating for older adults’ mental and cognitive health during a pandemic (Audio)
Social distancing, while necessary during the COVID-19 pandemic, creates challenges for all of us to connect during an unprecedented time of global health and economic crises. This is especially true for our elders who have been most impacted by these difficult times. Learn how to connect with and support our elders now.
When a crisis becomes chronic: The mental health tsunami that follows pandemics (Audio)
During this unprecedented time of global health and economic crises, half of all Canadians report that their mental health has suffered since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the psychological effects of quarantine will “echo” even after the re-opening of society. Learn how to maintain mental health during the pandemic and beyond.
These webinars were led by Dr. Khatri, who was the principal investigator on the Living Life To The Full for Caregivers 55+ study, which found that caregivers reported substantial improvements to their levels of anxiety, feelings of loneliness and depressive symptoms after completing the free caregiver support course.
Living Life to the Full is a fun and engaging eight-week course that provides people from all walks of life with effective tools to maximize their ability to manage life’s challenges. The group-oriented course is based on the principles of cognitive behavioural therapy, which focus on understanding how thoughts, feelings and behaviours work together to impact well-being. Each 90-minute session focuses on a different topic, such as understanding unhelpful thoughts, engaging in enjoyable activities, coping with anger and solving daunting problems.