After the Election Update  

The Ontario Mental Health and Addictions Alliance campaign launch has been profiled in a column by Carol Goar in today’s Toronto Star.  

Goar: Ontario’s overlooked health crisis

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

If you live in Toronto, you’re surrounded by the best health-care facilities in the province. You have a better chance of finding a family doctor than the majority of Ontarians. You can get a referral to the country’s top medical specialists.

But there’s one area in which the city doesn’t fare well. Toronto devotes a paltry 2.7 per cent of its health spending to mental health and addiction services. That is below the provincial average (3.3 per cent). It is lower than the corresponding figure for Brampton (4.2 per cent) and the city’s northern suburbs (3.7 per cent).

The best place in the province to get mental health and addiction services is Thunder Bay. Its regional health authority allocates 7.8 per cent of its spending to these services. It takes four days to be assigned a “case manager” who provides one-on-one support (compared with 66 days in Toronto). You can get into supportive housing in 90 days (377 days in Toronto).

The worst place to look for help is Hamilton. Its regional health unit spends just 2.3 per cent of its budget — $56 per capita — on services and support for people with psychiatric problems.

“Treatment for mental health and addiction issues right now is determined by your postal code,” says Mary Alberti, who heads the Schizophrenia Society of Ontario. She doesn’t think that’s right. She doesn’t think most Ontarians would tolerate this level of disparity, if they knew.

But they don’t. The public is unaware of the gaps and inequities in the province’s mental health system. The average citizen has no idea what services are available in his or her community, let alone others.

That’s why the 10 provincial organizations that provide help for people with mental illness and addictions — from peer support groups such as the Mood Disorders Association of Ontario to psychiatric hospitals such as the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) — have banded together for the first time. “We’re here because we want to speak with one voice,” said Catherine Zahn, president and chief executive of CAMH at the launch of the Ontario Mental Health and Addictions Alliance.

“We’re looking to make this a huge issue in the next election,” added Dennis Long, executive director of Breakaway Addiction Services.

 Read the full article at the Toronto Star website.

Great article in York Region newspaper about why the Alliance’s campaign messages ring true in Ontario’s York Region.   

Addiction stats disturbing: report

Mental health level of care depends on where you live

by Chris Traber

A York Region high school student, the product of a split and dysfunctional family, suffering from depression and self mutilation, had to wait months to see a psychiatrist. Only when the teen attempted suicide was hospital-based care offered.

A teenaged newcomer, trying to appease parents who didn’t understand the nuances of youth culture, grew increasingly despondent, frozen by the stigma of depression and lack of help.

A pair of teenagers and an adult in their early 20s are found dead by their own hand after being released from a York Region hospital psychiatric ward.

The stories relating to the pain and suffering of mental health and addiction challenges play out in real life daily through our communities, health and social service professionals and anti-poverty advocates attest.

There’s a growing substance abuse and addiction epidemic among youth from affluent York Region families.
And the problems are growing, the newly formed Ontario Mental Health & Addictions Alliance said in a report released Tuesday. Timely and appropriate care for mental health or addiction problems depend largely on where you live, leaving tens of thousands of Ontarians struggling to get the care they deserve, the survey stated.

The facts, statistics and outcomes are numerous and disturbing.

The alliance, an amalgam of 10 provincial organizations, including regional representation through the York Region branch of the Canadian Mental Health Association, said unequal access to mental health and addiction services threatens Ontarians. As such, by joining forces, the consortium wants to mobilize an awareness initiative and, at the same time, ask provincial political parties to act toward solving the most pressing challenges of mental illness and addiction.

“I have to say this is great,” association regional branch chief executive officer Colleen Zakoor said of the alliance. “Never before have so many significant players been pulled together.”

Funding and service inequities across the province affect Ontarians from all walks of life, the report stated. The wait for supportive housing in one jurisdiction is 1,097 days, nearly four times higher than the provincial average of 290 days.  

For residential addiction treatment, the average wait is 41 days, but is five times higher in the Central East Local Health Integration Network region.

Children and youth also face unequal access to mental health care. Per capita funding for community mental health ranges from $18.54 in one region to $124.78 in another, creating wildly uneven access to services across the province.

York Region is not exempt, Ms Zakoor said, noting we lack a residential detox facility and there’s only one early psychosis centre staffed by 10 people. Poverty compounds mental health and addiction challenges. Wait lists for subsidized and supportive housing are years long and growing. The association treats 1,500 clients annually. Ms Zakoor estimates, conservatively, more than 10,000 residents would benefit from care if funding was available.

“It’s about equity of services,” she said. “Millions are provided to hospitals for bricks and mortar, but there’s never enough for mental health and addiction services. It’s not congruent with the LHIN plan. From a helicopter view, things look good. But if you walk with us on the ground, it’s different and frustrating.”

The independent movement to stir political will in York Region is growing and necessary, Concord New Hope United Church Rev. Jim Keenan said.

With a mandate to research, educate and advocate on behalf of youth with mental health issues, he serves as co-chairperson of the newly established Vaughan Social Action Council. The service gaps and challenges are huge, he said.

Vaughan mental health services receive only one third of the provincial funding average. Citing anecdotal case histories and municipal statistics, Rev. Keenan said 10 per cent of students suffer from depression and anxiety, 33 per cent from psychological distress and only 7 per cent get treatment.

“Funding should be distributed on the basis of population and growth,” he said.

The government needs to develop policies in addition to funding formulas, he added. His council and the alliance is a step in the right direction.

“Getting service providers to share and not duplicate ideas is very good,” he said. “A collaborative table is invaluable. There’s still a lot of waste in social services funding. The key is to have two-way communications with policy makers and have organizations nimble enough to change.”

Through the Ontario legislature’s select committee on mental health and addictions, all three political parties have agreed the province needs a comprehensive mental health and addictions plan.

“Treatment for mental health and addiction issues right now is determined by your postal code,” Schizophrenia Society of Ontario president Mary Alberti said. “Ontarians have a right to timely and effective care, no matter where they live.”

Early intervention is crucial when treating mental illness and addictions and supportive housing is vital for recovery and rehabilitation,” Centre for Addiction and Mental Health president Dr. Catherine Zahn said.

“Investing in mental health and addiction services is not only the right thing to do, it also makes economic sense,” she said.

Solutions exist, at least in the short term, Ms Zakoor said. She recommends a focus on expanding on existing services and facilities. The early psychosis centre treats up to 90 youth per year. For an extra $800,000, the centre could double services.

• For alliance information, visit vote4mha.ca
• For details on the Vaughan Social Action Council, visit vaughansocialactioncouncil.ca

Elections Ontario is seeking public feedback on the accessibility of potential polling locations.  Nearly 8,000 possible voting locations have been identified for the 2011 Ontario Election and are now listed on the Elections Ontario website.

Please help promote greater accessibility for voters with mental health disabilities:

1. Share this request with other mental health and addictions stakeholders.
2. Check out the list of potential polling locations.  As we know, accessibility for voters with mental health disabilities can be complex and may be overlooked.  Elections Ontario has used specific accessibility criteria (available on their website) for identifying these locations, but your feedback is important to ensure that mental health needs are considered.  Some things to consider might include whether the space is accessible by public transit, inclusive of and perceived as safe by individuals with mental health disabilities, and easy to locate among other considerations.
3. Share your feedback with Elections Ontario using the link below.

To view location details and information about how locations were selected, please visit the Elections Ontario website at: http://bit.ly/ixXyvu.  The deadline to provide feedback is June 3, 2011.

For more information about promoting accessibility for voters with mental health disabilities, please contact Sheela Subramanian, Planning and Policy Analyst, Canadian Mental Health Association, Ontario, at (416) 977-5580 x4157 or ssubramanian@ontario.cmha.ca.

Welcome to www.Vote4MHA.ca, the official website of the Ontario Mental Health and Addictions Alliance!

Today is Day 1 of the Vote4MHA Campaign.  Here’s the breakdown:

Who are we? A coalition of ten organizations from across the province and across the continuum of care — from community to hospital services, and including consumer and family organizations.

Our goal? To put mental health and addictions on the 2011 provincial election agenda.

Why? We have joined forces for the first time because we are united in our concern for Ontario’s mental health and addictions system.  Did you know that:

• In Ontario, access to mental health and addictions services and supports depends on where you live
• Ontario’s children and youth are among those at risk and often do not get the support they need
• People wait on average 290 days and up to more than 3 years for supportive housing
• Despite the complexity of our mental health and addictions system, coordination and leadership is lacking at the government level

We believe that despite this reality, Ontario’s incoming government has the opportunity to strengthen one of our province’s most vital support systems.

How? We urge each party to develop a plan of action including these four recommendations:

1. Ensure that a comprehensive core basket of mental health and addictions services is equally available to all Ontarians
2. Focus on those at greatest risk, starting with children and youth
3. Improve access to supportive housing
4. Mobilize leadership to ensure Ontario’s addiction and mental health strategy is effective.

Learn more about our message by visiting Our Asks page.

What can YOU do? Join our movement! Visit our Get Involved page to learn more about how you can take action.

To get started, visit this page and Tell Us Your Story about why mental health and addictions matter to you.

Alliance of provincial groups come together to mobilize grassroots for Ontario election