Canadian astronaut and physician Dr. Dave Williams knows working collaboratively while in outer space is essential. “When in space, we are humans first,” he said. “Why not on earth?”
So when it comes to overcoming stigma associated with mental health, Williams – also the President and CEO of Southlake Regional Heath Centre and Assistant Professor of Surgery at the University of Toronto – believes collaboration is just as important.
“When someone is diagnosed with cancer people are immediately understanding and sympathetic, but with a mental illness diagnosis, the reaction is not the same. The stigma people feel with mental illness is often socially isolating,” he said.
Williams made the remarks as part of a 60-minute speech at CMHA Ontario’s pre-conference for CMHA Mental Health for All 2016 on Sept. 28. His lecture focused on the importance of teamwork, measuring for success, and the desire to overcome seemingly impossible challenges.
Williams believes in the importance of gathering and measuring data to inform decisions and influence behaviour. He cautions that you need to know what the data is telling you and cited the example of measuring hand hygiene at the hospital.
“People were smart and knew when the hand audits were being conducted,” Williams said.
Once Williams introduced “secret shopper audits” the success rate waned. Williams influenced behaviour by sharing the data with staff as a computer screen saver and encouraged courageous conversations to ultimately improve hand hygiene.
“You need to make it understandable so that everyone on the team can influence the outcomes,” Williams said.
Williams went on to say that life is “all about moments” and emphasized the importance of appreciating and embracing cultural, emotional and physical differences. He told a story of sitting with a young boy in palliative care who wanted to meet an astronaut. So Williams, as CEO of Southlake Regional Health Centre, donned his full astronaut gear the following day and spent three hours talking to the boy at his bedside.