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More parents, kids to get help from free mental health service

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Parents and caregivers in B.C. whose children have anxiety impacting their development and day-to-day happiness at home, school and in the community will soon have access to a new, free intervention program.

The program includes access to educational videos and weekly telephone coaching sessions and will be available starting April 29, 2019.

Serving parents and caregivers of children aged three to 12 years, the Anxiety Program – a new offering under the existing Confident Parents: Thriving Kids service – is designed to reduce the impact of anxiety on a child. It was developed locally by the Canadian Mental Health Association, BC Division (CMHA BC), in partnership with B.C. psychologists who specialize in child and youth mental health.

“Today’s announcement is excellent news for families in B.C. that require mental health support for their children,” said the Ginette Petitpas Taylor, federal Minister of Health. “Improving access to home and community care and mental health and addiction services is one of the ways in which collaboration between the governments of Canada and B.C. is helping to make lives better for B.C. residents.”

New office space on View Street in downtown Victoria will house the team that is delivering the online and telephone-based program. In the first phase, a total of 14 of 20 coaches have been hired and are completing orientation and training.

“For parents, knowing how to manage their child’s anxious behaviour can become a challenge. With today’s investment, parents now have somewhere to turn for the support they need,” said Judy Darcy, B.C.’s Minister of Mental Health and Addictions. “Expanding this successful service is so important because we know that the sooner we address mental-health and behaviour challenges, the better it is for the entire family.”

In addition, to meet the needs of Indigenous families, CMHA BC is working with Indigenous peoples and organizations to develop a culturally sensitive and appropriate model for this program, which is expected to launch in fall 2019.

The new Anxiety Program builds on the success of the existing Behaviour Program that parents and caregivers rate highly in terms of effectiveness.

“Previously, CMHA BC was relying on year-end funding for Confident Parents: Thriving Kids, and that meant that families never had a guarantee that these services would be available year over year,” said Katrine Conroy, B.C.’s Minister of Children and Family Development. “We believe these programs are vital and that’s why, for the first time ever, government is providing Ministry of Mental Health and Addictions Ministry of Children and Family Development
annual funding.”

The Behaviour Program, which parents and caregivers have  accessed since 2015, includes a series of six to 14 weekly telephone-coaching sessions in a flexible format, using exercises and workbooks. Trained coaches empower parents and caregivers to learn effective skills and techniques that are proven to prevent, reduce and reverse the development of mild to moderate behaviour difficulties – including aggression, attention deficit or unco-operative or disruptive behaviour – that create challenges in home, school and public settings.

Parents can access both programs at times that work for them, such as evenings and weekends. A referral from general physicians, pediatricians or Ministry of Children and Family Development community child and youth mental-health teams is required.

The total $5.75-million investment – $3 million for the Anxiety Program and $2.75 million for the Behaviour Program – is part of a five-year, $656-million bilateral agreement announced in
September 2018 between the Government of Canada and the Province of B.C. The agreement features targeted incremental investments to expand home and community care, and mental health and addiction services.

Quotes:

Bev Gutray, CEO of CMHA, BC Division –

“CMHA BC is pleased to be able to offer both of these programs throughout B.C. and serve families regardless of whether they live in a rural/remote community or a large urban centre. By assisting parents to support their children’s mental health early in life, we enhance their ability to thrive across the lifespan.”

Tiffany Samson, parent –

“Before we took the Confident Parents: Thriving Kids Behaviour Program, I was overwhelmed. I felt like I wasn’t equipped, I didn’t have the tools to deal with our daughter’s behaviour, and I just felt like I was really struggling. After completing the program, I felt confident as a parent.”

Kate Longpre, parent –

“As a parent, I want to learn the skills and strategies to support my child to manage their anxiety. With the Confident Parents: Thriving Kids Anxiety Program, I can learn these skills at no cost – from my home – supported by a trained coach.”

Quick Facts:

  • Of parents or caregivers who have completed the Confident Parents: Thriving Kids
    program since 2015, 85% reported good or very good improvement in their child􀍛s
    behaviour.
  • While 50-70% of mental illnesses show up before the age of 18 years, only about one in four kids and teens in Canada who need mental health treatment get it.
  • While 4% of children and youth aged 4-17 would meet diagnostic criteria for an anxiety disorder at any given time, the percentage of children with mild to moderate anxiety conditions is understood to be much higher.
  • Anxiety conditions are characterized by apprehension, fear, bodily symptoms and avoidance behaviour that impairs normal functioning.
  • While it is not unusual for children to have behaviour-related problems at some time, conduct disorder is a persistent set of behaviours that violate the rights of others, goes against accepted norms of behavior and disrupts the child’s or family’s everyday life.
  • Since 2015, more than 3,200 families have been helped by the Behaviour Program.
  • Once fully staffed, it is estimated that the Confident Parents: Thriving Kids Anxiety
    Program will serve 2,400 B.C. families annually.
  • In 2017-18, 1,277 families were referred to Confident Parents: Thriving Kids by 512
    primary health-care providers from over 70 communities in every region of the province.
  • Parent ratings indicate very positive outcomes with 78.8% of participants falling in the categories of “fully resolved” (55.5%) or “significant improvement” (24.2%).
  • Parent satisfaction with the program is very high, with 93% of parents rating the
    program’s quality as “excellent” or “very good.”

Learn More:

Watch a video about the Confident Parents: Thriving Kids Programs: https://youtu.be/ku2PBUboCro

Get information about Confident Parents: Thriving Kids at: www.confidentparentsbc.ca

Visit the Ministry of Children and Family Development’s public portal to learn more about child and youth mental health case trends and data: https://mcfd.gov.bc.ca/reporting/services/childand-youth-mental-health/case-data-and-trends

Contacts:

Ministry of Mental Health and Addictions
Government Communications and Public
Engagement
250 208-8438

Ministry of Children and Family Development
Government Communications and Public
Engagement
250 356-1553

Connect with the Province of B.C. at: news.gov.bc.ca/connect

CMHA 100th

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The Canadian Mental Health Association is one of the oldest continuing voluntary health organizations in Canada.

It began existence as the Canadian National Committee for Mental Hygiene (CNCMH), founded by Dr. Clarence M. Hincks and Clifford W. Beers in January 26, 1918. Hincks was very interested in the field because he had experienced bouts of mental illness.

The Globe and Mail reported the group’s formation under the headline:

$20,000 Secured for Institute: Canadian National Committee for Mental Hygiene Started in Mrs. Dunlap’s Home

A short historical note records the purposes and objectives of the Canadian National Committee for Mental Hygiene, as tentatively described at that first meeting. They included:

  1. War Work (a) Psychiatric examination of recruits (b) Adequate care of returned soldiers suffering from mental disabilities
  2. Mental examination of immigrants (post-war) to ensure a better selection of newcomers
  3. Adequate facilities for the diagnosis and treatment of cases of mental disease
  4. Adequate care of the mentally deficient
  5. Prevention of mental disease and deficiency

Hincks solicited friends and professionals to join the committee, with an emphasis on those in the medical profession. He already had the backing of C.K. Clarke, Dean of Medicine and Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto; his persuasive address to the medical faculty of McGill won him its unanimous approval.

Dr. Clarence Hincks

Dr. Clarence Hincks

Hincks then established a Board of Directors. He asked 20 business and professional leaders to sit on the Board; 18 accepted. Among them were Lord Shaughnessy, President of the CPR; Richard B. Angus, Montreal financier and philanthropist; Dr. C.F. Martin, Professor of Medicine, McGill University; Sir Vincent Meredith, President, Bank of Montreal; and F.W. Molson, President of Molson’s Brewery. Each agreed to pledge $1,000 a year for three years towards the expenses of the new organization.

Hincks gained further support through an innovative series of “drawing-room meetings.” These were afternoon teas hosted by socially prominent women, each of whom invited her wealthy and influential friends. Hincks would present a speaker, his friend and co-founder Clifford W. Beers, author of the book A Mind That Found Itself. It gave a graphic account of Beers’ own mental illness and the treatment he received, some of it rather abusive and even cruel.

Hincks’s extended the strategy to homes of friends in Quebec City, Montreal and Ottawa. It proved very successful: he recruited an impressive list of potential members and donors.

The first official meeting of the CNCMH was held in Ottawa on April 26, 1918. A provisional constitution was adopted. Dr C.F. Martin, Professor of Medicine at McGill University, was elected President. Dr C.K. Clarke was appointed Medical Director, and Dr. C.M. Hincks was appointed Associate Medical Director and Secretary.

In the fall of 1918, the Committee established itself at 143 College St. in Toronto. Joining Clarke and Hincks were Miss Marjorie Keyes and two secretaries, Anne Abbot and Doris Secord. Miss Keyes was a graduate nurse who had been associated with Dr. Clarke and Dr. Hincks at the Out-Patient Psychiatric Clinic at Toronto General Hospital. During the summer of 1918, Miss Keyes prepared for her new role by taking psychiatric studies at Smith College.

Lieutenant Colonel Colin Russel soon gave the CNCMH an opportunity to undertake an important project. Russel was the consultant neurologist to the Department of Soldiers, and had visited many of the provincial mental hospitals which were caring for soldier patients. He was particularly distressed with those facilities in Manitoba. That province’s government included with the mental hospitals in the province, all the institutions presently caring for the mentally disordered or defective including jails, schools, special homes and juvenile courts.

On September 30, 1918, Hincks and Keyes arrived in Winnipeg, where they visited several institutions. They also toured the Salvation Army Industrial Home and the Home for Incurables in Portage la Prairie and were so shocked by what they found that they immediately returned to Winnipeg to consult with government representatives. The CNCMH prepared a confidential report on its findings which was submitted to the government and the Public Welfare Commission.

As a result of the Manitoba Survey, and that province’s quick response in implementing the recommendations, other provinces became interested in having similar surveys. During the next four years, requests for surveys were received from British Colombia, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Alberta, and Saskatchewan. As in Manitoba, these surveys included all institutions.

The CNCMH also was very involved in the plight of soldiers. It became evident to Hincks that soldiers under care were not receiving adequate treatment. Assisted by Miss Keyes, Dr. Clarke conducted a quick inspection soldier patients in 10 hospitals in the western. The results of this preliminary survey were published in 1920. Highlighting the problem of shell shock and other neuropsychiatric disorders affecting so many able-bodied men helped pave the way for the work of the National Committee.

The CNCMH was also interested in advocated improvements to the psychiatric screening of immigrants. Dr. Clarke’s lectures and official reports emphasized this fact.

Schools were another areas of involvement. Dr. Hincks and Dr. Helen MacMurchy pressed for surveys to assess the extent of intellectual disability and other psychiatric disorders among schoolchildren and to provide support for the establishment of auxiliary classes for the special education of such children. In its first five years, the CNCMH built a firm foundation for meeting the objectives established in 1918. Surveys on the care and treatment of people suffering from mental disorders were conducted in every province. Mental hospitals in all provinces, except Ontario and Quebec, were inspected at the request of provincial governments. The extent of mental disorder was found to be greater than expected, and preventive programs were non-existent. In accordance with the committee’s recommendations, provincial governments spent over six million dollars on improving facilities for the mentally ill.

CNCMH surveys of schoolchildren, conducted in several centres in Ontario and Quebec, resulted in over 150 special classes for children with intellectual disabilities being established by school boards. Mental Hygiene clinics were promoted and, in some cases, partially supported. A study of the psychiatric screening of immigrants resulted in a reduction of the number of new Canadians with mental disorders. The problem of “shell shock” and the rehabilitation of soldiers suffering from mental and nervous disorders was addressed through co-operation with DSCR and the Director General of Medical Services in the army. A beginning was made on public and professional education in mental hygiene and psychiatry.

Thank you Noodlebox Victoria

Our heartfelt thanks to the managers, staff and all the Noodlebox customers who participated in September 20th Noodlebox Charity Day Fundraiser.

safeTALK suicide prevention training in Victoria

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In recognition of World Suicide Prevention Day on September 10, CMHA is pleased to offer two half-day suicide prevention workshops in Victoria on September 21 and 22.

 

safeTALK is a half-day suicide prevention workshop open to anyone, regardless of prior experience or training. Gain knowledge about how to help a person who is thinking about suicide connect to the support they need.

You will learn to:

• Identify people who may have thoughts of suicide
• Ask them directly about the possibility of suicide
• Connect them to life-saving community supports and resources

More than 50,000 people in 20 countries attend safeTALK each year.

Learn more and register:

Thank you Bell Let’s Talk for supporting CMHA work across BC

Bell Lets Talk

Canadians across the country will join together on January 25 on social media to text, talk and tweet about mental health for the 7th annual Bell Let’s Talk Day.

Bell’s annual campaign encourages people to “start a conversation” about mental health with friends, family and co-workers, recognizing that simply talking makes a significant impact in breaking down stigma and eliminating discrimination.

As Canada’s nation-wide leader and champion for mental health for almost 100 hundred years, CMHA wholly embraces opportunities such as this to talk openly about mental health. Every day CMHA BC helps British Columbians access the resources they need to maintain and improve mental health, build resilience and support recovery from mental illness and addiction.

We applaud Bell for continuing the conversation and helping to promote awareness of mental health issues.

We also want to say “thank you” for the direct support we have received from the Bell Let’s Talk Community Fund over the last five years. Donated funds have been awarded to CMHA branches in Vancouver, South Cariboo, Kelowna, Prince George and the Shuswap / Revelstoke region allowing us to enhance delivery of front-line services to individuals in these communities.

Here are just some of the projects that these donations have been used to assist:

  • Development new materials to help BC youth gain life-long mental health skills, self- esteem and social support through the Living Life to the Full for Youth course
  • Helping teens whose parents have a mental illness build coping skills, friendships and resilience through fun recreational group activities like snowboarding and swimming.
  • Supporting the opening of HOpe Café in North Vancouver, which employs people with lived experience of mental illness as barista and to help build skills and decrease stigma
  • Bringing the WRAP (Wellness Recovery Action Plan) mental illness recovery and self-management skills program to Kelowna
  • Helping people with severe mental illness in Prince George to find safe and suitable housing and the skills and community connections to maintain it through the Resource Housing Outreach program
  • Offering free mental health workshops to workplaces in The Cariboo
  • Bringing mental health skills to Shuswap / Revelstoke through Living Life to the Full course

This year’s Let’s Talk campaign highlights the impact of mental illness on everyone, with spokespeople Clara Hughes, Howie Mandel, Michael Landsberg, and others speaking candidly about their own personal experiences with mental illness and recovery.

Join the conversation online today and Bell will donate 5 cents more to mental health initiatives for every:

  • Text message, mobile and long distance call made by Bell Canada and Bell Aliant customers
  • Tweet and Instagram post using #BellLetsTalk
  • View of the Bell Let’s Talk Day video at Facebook.com/BellLetsTalk
  • Use of the Bell Let’s Talk Snapchat geofilter

Kick start a transformative year for your workplace

Bottom Line 2017

CMHA hosts Canada’s Top Conference on Workplace Mental Health February 21-22 in Vancouver

Join us on this journey of change. This year’s theme, Transforming Workplace Culture: Agents and Allies, invites you to connect with those who continue to innovate in building momentum towards a fairer, more productive and satisfying working environment for all.

The conference provides an opportunity to share real experiences and successes while working towards the common goal of transforming Canadian workplaces into psychologically safe and supportive places where everyone can work safely and thrive. Themes include legalization of cannabis, addiction, burnout, trauma, and resiliency.

Hear from agents of change like author and advocate Brigit Schulte, who challenges us to conceptualize work differently and to be courageous in developing new norms in the workplace.

On each day, to ensure you leave with practical skills to take back to your workplace, the conference will break mid-day for a two hour workshop. This year’s conference offers multiple workshop streams tailored to your needs.

View the full program online.

Canada’s top conference on workplace mental health

For 14 years, CMHA’s Bottom Line Conference has been bringing together a rich community of business leaders and workers, union representatives, policy makers and researchers to share their expertise and ideas and discuss ways in which to improve mental health in Canadian workplaces.

Register today! Early bird ends Friday, January 13

The past two events have sold out – register soon! For the best value, take advantage of our group and early bird rates by registering by next Friday, January 13.

Learn more and register at www.bottomlineconference.ca.