Meeting the mental health needs of Canadians

Winnipeg

As public discussions about mental health become more acceptable, the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) is delivering a range of programs and services that reflect the many contributors to mental health. The agency, whose mission is to advance mental health, well-being and recovery across Manitoba, envisions a Manitoba where mental health is honoured as a universal human right.

CEO Marion Cooper said the CMHA has been meeting the mental health needs of Canadians for more than a century, making it Canada’s oldest community-based health organization. That experience is needed today as more people face challenges to their mental health.

“These times have been incredibly challenging,” Cooper began. “The effects post-pandemic, and the stressors at a global level and a local level, around homelessness and poverty … Uncertainty is a theme that a lot of people connect to, and it really impacts their mental health.”

Cooper stressed that the CHMA isn’t solely focused on mental illness, depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, bipolarity or substance abuse. They also consider factors that impact people’s ability to feel good, as well as those affecting someone’s ability to thrive.

“Mental health is a euphemism for many; however, it is a deeply misunderstood term,” Cooper explained. “We talk about both mental health and mental illness.

“Young people languishing, feeling stuck with no sense of purpose or meaning … it is not necessarily anxiety or depression, but it is languishing on the continuum of struggling with emotional and physical well-being,” Cooper added.

“We also have to be very careful that the pendulum isn’t swinging to a place where we’re pathologizing all distress. Understanding the interconnectedness between mental illness and mental health, and the domains of well-being, like psychological, social, emotional, spiritual, and cultural well-being, is an important part of the conversation.”

One of the benefits of the COVID-19 pandemic has been a heightened awareness of the factors impacting mental health. More people are talking about it. That has increased public demand for mental health services.

The CMHA’s service navigation hub, funded entirely by the agency, receives thousands of critical calls for help each year. For many, it is their first contact with service providers.

Some call seeking information for themselves. Often, parents call with worries about the children. Older adults are concerned about adult children who have been struggling for decades. The calls reflect diverse community needs.

“That’s an essential service,” Cooper said. “We prioritize service navigation; that’s a starting point. And then we have our housing first (service), so that’s for folks that are chronically or episodically homeless. We have an ACT team (assertive community treatment). We have an intensive case management team, and then, we have rapid rehousing.”

Housing, employment and social connections — three factors that many take for granted — are strong influences on mental health, and the CMHA addresses them. In partnership with the Province of Manitoba, Manitoba Housing and other community organizations, the CMHA offers a full continuum of housing programs, including outreach and transitional support, permanent housing and wraparound care.

Once a home is secured, many people access the CMHA’s employment services. Employment With Supports offers employment skills and resume development, followed by job search and retention supports once employment is secured.

Cooper said youth transitioning out of the child welfare system may need special attention. Those can be found at Huddle Broadway, where youth and adults who care about them find support for mental health, primary health, peer support, Indigenous culture and connection and other social services such as housing and finance. Huddle was designed with youth input to deliver customized services.

Community wellness and outreach services are designed to meet people where they’re at. Cooper said the CMHA engages in extensive workplace and school-based education. BounceBack is a free skill-building program to help people aged 15 and up manage low mood, mild to moderate depression, anxiety, stress, or worry. It is delivered online or over the phone. Recovery College offers free, online courses.

Being a national organization, Cooper said the CMHA can apply best practices learned across Canada. That knowledge helps inform provincial officials about new program options as the agency advocates for better mental health care for Manitobans.

“Mental health is under the Department of Housing, Addiction and Homelessness, with responsibilities for mental health,” Cooper said. “That’s worrying for me as an advocate, to see mental health in a big portfolio like housing and addiction and homelessness.

“There’s a risk that the complexity and the needs from a mental health perspective may be lost in the mix of the housing crisis that we’re dealing with,” Cooper added. “The housing crisis is the result of not investing in good mental health and addiction support. So the irony is that we’re still focusing on the outcome of a lack of investment, as opposed to understanding how to get ahead of this.”

Visit cmhaacrossmb.ca for more information.