As members of Ontario’s Mental Health and Addictions Leadership Advisory Council, we have made increased access to all services, but particularly structured psychotherapy and supportive housing, top priorities.
We encourage provincial and territorial health ministers to focus on enhancing mental health and addictions services and urge the Federal Government to follow through on its commitment expressed in the Health Accord platform: to “make high-quality mental health services more available to Canadians who need them…”
There are good reasons for the Health Accord to focus on supportive housing and structured psychotherapy.
For people living with mental illnesses or addictions, supportive housing is a fundamental necessity for recovery. It allows individuals to live a full life independently in the community. It helps those with a disability or chronic condition achieve better health outcomes and reduces the use of health and emergency services.
However, the demand for supportive housing is immense. In Ontario alone, at least 30,000 people are in need. The Council estimates it will take an investment of as much as $693 million annually to create the supportive housing system needed to help those waiting for service. And that’s just in Ontario.
The benefits of psychotherapy are undisputed. It is recognized as an effective intervention for treating anxiety and depression, which afflicts an estimated 3 million Canadians. A significant investment will reduce wait times and provide greater access to therapies which can be widely delivered through various methods by many different health care professionals. This would have a dramatic impact on the overall health and well-being of our society and economy. This week alone, 500,000 Canadians will not go to work because of a mental health problem while the economic burden of mental illness in Canada is estimated to be $51 billion per year.
As the Federal Government enters in to the Health Accord discussion tomorrow it may be useful to consider that relative to other countries, Canada under invests in this part of the health care system. Countries such as the United Kingdom and Sweden spend more than 9 per cent of their health budget on mental health compared to Canada, which spends 7.2 per cent (2007/08). In its 2012 National Mental Health Strategy, the Mental Health Commission of Canada recommended that health spending for mental health services increase to 9 per cent and that social spending be increased by 2 per cent. Bringing our national investment up to this level would be the start needed to help ensure that high–quality mental health and addictions services are available to all Canadians who need them.
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The following leaders from Ontario’s mental health and addictions sector are available to speak to the media:
Susan Pigott, Chair, Mental Health and Addictions Leadership Advisory Council
Camille Quenneville, CEO, Canadian Mental Health Association, Ontario
Gail Czukar, CEO, Addictions & Mental Health Ontario
Catherine Zahn, President and CEO, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health
Kwame McKenzie, CEO, The Wellesley Institute
To arrange an interview, please contact:
Joe Kim
Director, Communications
Canadian Mental Health Association, Ontario
416-977-5580 ext. 4141
jkim@ontario.cmha.ca