National Human Resources Sector Study of Physicians Launched

Transcription

1 National Human Resources Sector Study of Physicians Launched The Hon our able Jane Stewart, Min is ter of Hu - man Re sources De vel op ment Can ada (HRDC), an nounced the crea tion of a sec - tor study aimed at find ing new long- term so lu - tions to hu man re - sources is sues fac ing doc tors in Can ada, Sept. 20. An - nounc ing the plan dur ing a Royal Col lege meet ing, Stewart said the study is, to help plan the health work force of the fu ture and en sure phy si cians have the nec es sary skills and knowl - edge to re spond to Ca na di - ans and to the chang ing needs of our health care sys tem. The Gov ern ment of Canada is pro vid ing $3.95 million over three years for this ini tia tive. The medi cal pro - fes sion will also con trib ute $1.6 mil lion in kind and in cash. The study will ex am - ine a full range of ex ist ing and emerging mod els for health care de liv ery and as - sess their im pli ca tions for phy si cian sup ply and train ing. Rep re - sen ta tives of the Ad vi sory Com mit - tee on Health Hu man Re sources, which re ports to the prov inces dep uty min - is ters of health, are partici - pat ing in the study and the steer ing com mit tee. Cana - da s health care sector rep - re sents a work force of nearly 10 per cent of the to - tal la bour force, said Stewart. Ad dress ing struc - tural changes and skills short ages is cru cial to im - prov ing Ca na di ans ac cess to qual ity care, she added. For many Ca na di ans, ac - cess to health care is meas - ured by their abil ity to con tact and ob tain care from a phy si cian. This For many Ca na di ans, ac cess to health care is measured by their abil ity to con tact and obtain care from a physician. means we must en sure that we have an ade quate sup - ply of phy si cians to over - come the re al ity of Cana da s vast ge og ra phy and to meet both the pri - mary care and spe cial ized medi cal care needs of our citi zens, both now and in the fu ture, said Rock. The hu man re sources sec tor study will be co- chaired by Dr. Hugh Scully, former presi dent of the Ca na dian Medi cal As so cia tion; Dr. Mi chel Brazeau, CEO of the Royal College of Phy si - cians and Sur geons of Can - ada; and Dr. Pe ter New bery, past presi dent, Col lege of Fam ily Physi - cians of Can ada. The part ner ship be tween the Gov ern ment of Can ada and the medi cal com mu nity of fers an ave nue to de velop vi tal and nec es sary col labo - ra tion in the search for so - lu tions, and ex am in ing im prove ments, to the way health care can be de liv - ered to the people of Can - ada, and to ad dress phy si cian training and sup - ply is sues, said Newbery, co- chair of the study. Advisory Group on Suicide Prevention in First Nations Created Health Min is ter Al lan Rock and As sem bly of First Na tions (AFN) Na - tional Chief Mat thew Coon Come, jointly an nounced the crea tion of an ad vi sory group on sui cide pre ven - tion that will make recom - men da tions to ad dress the issue of youth sui cide among the First Na tions in Can ada, Sept. 20. Ear lier this year, Rock and Coon Come agreed to con - vene a group to re view pre - vi ous stud ies and re commenda tions on First Na tions youth suicide and sug gest short- and longterm strate gies. The high rate of suicide among First Nations youth com - mands urgent attention The high rate of suicide among First Na tions youth com mands ur gent atten - tion, and we need the ad - vice of the ad vi sory group to de velop prac ti cal and work able strate gies to ad dress this chal lenge, said Rock. We must find ways to give hope to these young peo ple and their families, so that they can make a full con tri bu tion to the de vel - op ment and growth of their com mu ni ties, Rock added. The is sue of sui cide is a daily mat ter of trag edy in our com mu ni ties, em - pha sized Coon Come at the time of the an nounce ment. He added, It is criti cal that we ob tain the in for ma - tion on this cri sis very quickly so that we can then work to gether with the gov ern ment to de fine so lu - tions and im ple ment them ex pe di tiously. The ad vi sory group in - cludes three psy chia trists: Dr. Cor nelia Wei man of McMas ter and head of the CPA Na tive Mental Health Sec tion; Dr. Lau rence Kir - mayer, di rec tor of So cial and Transcul tural Psy chia - try at McGill Uni ver sity; and Dr. Har riet Mac Mil lan of McMas ter, who is also a pe dia tri cian. CPA Bulletin de l APC Fall 2001 automne 51

2 Research Institute Meets With Non-Governmental Organizations Twenty- seven vol un teer non- governmental or gani - za tions (NGOs) came to - gether at the end of June to dis cuss col labo rat ing with the Ca na dian In sti tutes of Health Re search (CIHR), in the first of a se ries of round ta bles spon sored by the Neu ro sci ences, Mental Health and Ad dic tions Re - search In sti tute (INMHA) across Can ada. In his opening re marks Dr. Remi Quirion, sci en tific di - rec tor of the new in sti tute, po si tioned the roundtables as an im por tant source of in put to the de vel op ment of the stra te gic out look for INMHA. Phil Up shall, a mem ber of the in sti tute ad - vi sory board and CAMIMH chair, worked closely with Quirion to or - gan ize the event. In wel com ing par tici pants Up shall noted that with lim ited funding avail able for re search, part ner ships with NGOs and founda - INMHA Pri ori ties tions are es sen tial for achiev ing the broad man - date of this in sti tute. Ac - cord ing to the re port of the meet ing, par tici pants con - cluded that they gen er ally sup ported the pro posed mis sion and ob jec tives of the in sti tute while mak ing spe cific sug ges tions, in - clud ing broader ref er ence to co morbidity re search 1) Training the next generation of sci en tists: Building capacity in an in no va tive way 2) The NET Program 3) Reducing discrimination against Canadians suffering from disorders covered by INMHA and quali ta tive re search. In the longer term par tici pants ex pect col labo ra tion to en - able un der tak ing joint proj - ects, ex change of re search in for ma tion, more ef fec tive re cruit ment of re search ers and shar ing of re sources to greater ef fect. The in sti tute s first year Stra te gic Ini tia tive budget ($800,000) is de voted to train ing grant awards ($350,000), the Gene Ther - apy grant ($250,000 pay - able this year) and the NET pro gram ($200,000). The In sti tute De vel op ment Grant ($1M) is used to sup - port work shops, a stra te gic plan, Brain Star, in ter na - tional col labo ra tion, com - mu ni ca tions, IAB Focus groups, and staff sala ries, meet ings, travel and other re lated ex penses. For more information, con - tact Astrid Eberhart of CIHR and staff liaison for NMHA at The web site is - tutes/inmha/inmha_e.shtml. Romanow Commission The fed eral gov ern ment an nounced the crea tion of The Com mis sion on the Future of Health Care in Can ada, April 4. The former Sas katche wan pre mier Roy Roma - now will lead the Com mis sion. The Com mis sion will rec - om mend policies and measures to ensure the sus tain abil ity of a uni ver sally ac ces si ble, pub licly ad min - is tered health sys tem that of fers qual ity services to Ca na - dians and strikes an ap pro pri ate balance among in vest ments in pre ven tion and health main te nance and those di rected to care and treat ment. The Com mis sion will carry out its man date in two phases: a fact- finding phase with in put from health care pro vid ers, pol icy ex perts and the pub lic, and a public con sul ta tion phase. The Com mis sion is ex pected to hold hear ings early in 2002 and is sue its fi nal re port in the fall of Mental Health Data Release Hos pi tal length of stay and dis charge data col lected by the Ca na dian In sti tute for Health In for ma tion (CIHI) is now avail able for and This re cently re - leased data shows a one per cent de cline in the dis charge rate of pa tients with mental dis or ders (680 per 100,000 popu la tion) from to , a nine per cent one- year drop in the number of days pa tients with mental dis or ders stayed in hos pi tals and a drop in the av er age length of stay from 59.5 to 55 days (22.9 days for length of stay in gen eral hos pi tals). The av er age length of stay for hos pi tali za tions for all ill nesses is 8.9 days (Health Re ports; 12: No 4. Sta tis tics Can ada, Cata logue ). For in for ma tion about this data re lease con tact Karen McCar thy at the CIHI at His tori cal in for - ma tion (pre- dating 1994) is avail able from the Health Sta - tis tics Di vi sion of Sta tis tics Can ada. 52 CPA Bulletin de l APC Fall 2001 automne

3 National Specialty Societies and Royal College Leaders Work Out Challenges in Implementing Maintenance of Certification The lead ers of the Na tional Spe - cialty Societies (NSS) and the Royal Col lege of Phy si cians and Sur geons of Can - ada (RCPSC) met to dis cuss the re la tion ship be tween these groups, Sept. 20. Origi nally can celled last spring, the fall meet ing was re in stated af ter sev eral so cie ties, in clud ing the CPA, sent let ters of con - cern to the Royal College about the need for such a meet ing. Dr. Mi chael My ers, presi - dent of the CPA, re marked, This is an im por tant fo - rum to dis cuss among col - le gial na tional or gani za tions some sig nifi - cant prob lems many of the spe cialty so cie ties are en - coun ter ing with ful fill ing their role in the im ple men - tation of the Main te nance of Cer ti fi ca tion pro gram. This is a time when the high est lev els of col labo ra - tion be tween the spe cial ties and the Royal Col lege ap - pears to be nec es sary to en - sure the suc cess of Main te nance of Cer ti fi ca - tion and to avert the po ten - tial con se quence of fail ure, and man da tory re cer ti fi ca - tion by ex ami na tion. Prior to join ing the Royal Col lege meet ing, the NSS presi dents at tended a CPA- hosted meet ing to dis cuss com mon con cerns and ap proaches. The fo cus of the dis cus sion was on the chal lenges faced by NSS around re la tion ships of phy si cians with the phar ma ceu ti cal in dus try and im pli ca tions for CPD. The NSS re quested the Royal Col lege to pro vide clearer pub lic state ments about ex pec ta tions in this re gard. NSS raised con - cerns about the un even ap - pli ca tion of overall stan dards and the Ca na dian Medi cal As so cia tion guide - lines in par ticu lar. At the meet ing, the presidents pointed out the need for a strong com mu ni ca tions strat egy to clar ify the in ter - pre ta tions and im prove un - der stand ing of the CMA guide lines. The need for bet ter com mu ni ca tion with the deans was also raised. CPA CEO Alex Saunders was en cour aged by the out - come of the meet ing. We The focus of the dis cus sion was on the challenges faced by NSS around relationships of phy si cians with the pharmaceutical industry and implications for CPD.... There is currently no mecha - nism to ensure that each spe cialty group has a voice with re gard to Royal College de ci sions on CPD or its emerging ad vo cacy agenda... did re ceive some strong sig nals that the presidents were suc cess ful in get ting their con cerns across to the Royal Col lege, said Saun - ders. Dur ing the meet ing My ers pointed out that spe - cialty so cie ties do not have a for mal voice in the gov - ern ance of the Royal Col - lege and that it may be timely to de velop a vi sion and stra te gic plan on the in ter face of NSS, the voice of in di vid ual spe cial ties, and the greater body of all spe cial ists to op ti mally meet mem ber needs. The only for mal link be tween spe cialty so cie ties and the Royal Col lege is through the ap point ment of an ex of fi cio NSS rep re sen ta tive to the Royal Col lege spe - cialty com mit tee that ad - vises the Col lege on poli cies and guide lines for post- graduate edu ca tion. There is cur rently no mecha nism to en sure that each spe cialty group has a voice with re gard to Royal Col lege de ci sions on CPD or its emerg ing ad vo cacy agenda, mak ing op por tu ni - ties such as this one es pe - cially criti cal, Saunders added. The meeting of fered the Royal Col lege an op por tu - nity to pro vide an update on a number of ini tia tives of spe cial in ter est to the so - cie ties, in clud ing CANMEDS (roles of spe - cial ists), ini tia tives to rec - og nize in ter na tional medi cal graduates and the re view of the pro cess of rec og ni tion of sub spe cial - ties. In De cem ber 1995, the CPA, on behalf of the psy - chia try acade mies, sub mit - ted three ap pli ca tions with the Royal Col lege for rec - og ni tion of child, geri at ric and fo ren sic psy chia try as sub spe cial ties. While there have been nu mer ous meet - ings on the sub ject, the Royal Col lege has not yet made a de ci sion on these ap pli ca tions. CPA Bulletin de l APC Fall 2001 automne 53

4 Placing Mental Health on the Ottawa Policy Agenda Health Can ada Dep uty Min is ter com mits to on go ing dia logue with CAMIMH The vi sion ary think ing of the CPA and the four other found ing mem bers in creat - ing the Ca na dian Al li ance on Men tal Illness and Mental Health (CAMIMH) was com mended as a bril liant move by the new Health Can ada dep uty min is ter, Ian Green, and Dr. Rob ert McMurtry, as sis tant dep uty min is ter of Pub lic and Popu - la tion Health. These com ments came in re - sponse to the first for mal CAMIMH pres en ta tion this sum mer to sen ior de part men - tal of fi cials after the fed eral speech from the throne sig - naled federal interest in pur - su ing a mental health pro mo tion agenda. Rep re sented by each of the mem ber or gani za tions, in - clud ing Pi erre Beauséjour, chair of the CPA Board, CAMIMH hoped to influ - ence how the de part ment pro ceeds with put ting for - ward op tions for im ple ment ing Par lia ment s com mit ment. Dur ing the meet ing, Health Can ada was urged to en sure that the scope of the na tional ap proach re ported by de part - mental officials in the Health Can ada pres en ta tion to the Kirby Com mit tee hear ings in June in clude all four pillars rec om mended in the CAMIMH call for action. These pil lars are awareness and edu ca tion; a com pre hen - sive na tional re search strat - egy in this area; a policy frame work in sup port of the serv ice, care and sup port sys - tem needs; and an in for ma - tion gath er ing and reporting in fra struc ture for men tal ill - ness and mental health. As Beauséjour pointed out during the meet ing, We also think Health Can ada can take some im me di ate steps. CAMIMH rec om mended that as its first steps, Health Can ada could cre ate a na - tional sec re tar iat or bu reau within the de part ment for men tal illness and mental health. It could also take the lead in bring ing other fed eral pro gram ar eas such as jus - tice, pris ons, new Canadians and the armed forces to - gether to en sure that the fed - eral gov ern ment ad dresses the many fac ets of mental ill - ness is sues. Jean Pi erre Galipeault from the Na tional Network for Men tal Health emphasized that the de part ment should also be en sur ing there is mean ing ful citi zen en gage - ment in the de vel op ment of poli cies. Bon nie Pape, on be half of the CMHA, sug gested that the de part ment likely al ready has the ca pac ity to move for - ward on a few ini tia tives sug gested by the CAMIMH ac tion plan, such as the data gath er ing program and sup - port ing awareness- raising pub lic edu ca tion ac tivi ties. Sub se quently the de part - ment invited CAMIMH and its mem bers to a round of in for mal con sul ta tions on ini tial op tions the de part - ment was con tem plat ing that fo cused on mental health pro mo tion. CPA later met with de part - mental of fi cials dur ing the con sul ta tion round with pro - fes sional as so cia tions. Dur - ing the meet ing, Beauséjour pointed out ways the fed eral gov ern ment could work with provinces to ex pand its pro posed ap proach to meet some of the broader system chal lenges, such as mental health hu man re sources. At the end of the meeting with the dep uty, Up shall, CAMIMH chair, con cluded, I am en cour aged that both Green and McMurtry ac - knowl edge a need for ac tion in this area and that the dep - uty made a com mit ment to con tinue a dia logue with CAMIMH. The dep uty has since scheduled a follow-up meet ing with CAMIMH for early De cem ber. CAMIMH Meets With Kirby Committee CAMIMH members Phil Up - shall and Bonnie Pape were in vited by the Senate Com - mit tee on So cial Affairs study ing the fed eral role in health care to provide tes ti - mony on mental health, in June. The Com mit tee spent half a day discussing mental health is sues. CAMIMH pointed out that, with out an ac tion plan on men tal health, Can ada lags be hind those other Western coun tries rec og niz ing that men tal ill nesses will be the lead ing sources of disease bur den within the next two dec ades. In ad di tion to a brief, CAMIMH ta bled a back - ground pa per on the preva - lence and burden of mental ill ness in Can ada prepared by Dr. Elliot Gold ner in col labo ra tion with his col - leagues at the Canadian Acad emy of Psy chi at ric Epi de mi ol ogy. The other wit nesses were Health Can ada, the Psy cho logi cal As so cia tion and Ken Ross, head of mental health serv - ices in New Bruns wick, who was invited to pres ent the pro vin cial per spec tive. CMA Joins in Call For a Men tal Health Strat egy Dur ing its August 2001 meet ing, the CMA Gen eral Coun cil passed a mo tion that calls on the fed eral, pro - vin cial and ter ri to rial gov ern ments to ac knowl edge the im por tance of men tal ill ness and mental health is sues and de velop a na tional strat egy to re duce the im pact of men tal ill ness on fami lies, com mu ni ties and so cie ties. The motion was made on the rec om men da tion of the Health Care and Pro mo tion Coun cil, with whom CAMIMH met in April 2001 to pro vide an over view of the is sues and its pro pos als con tained in its pa per, Call for Ac tion. Dr. Nady el- Guebaly, the CPA rep re sen ta - tive to the CMA, re ported af ter the meet ing, I am par - ticu larly pleased that the mo tion was the only one to pass unani mously with a vote of CPA Bulletin de l APC Fall 2001 automne

5 b Support Network Created in Aftermath of Sept. 11 Representatives from the two CPA associations (the psychological and psychiatric associations) and the CMA, joined by Health Minister Allan Rock, met with the media to announce the creation of the Canadian Mental Health Support Network, on World Health Day, Oct. 10. During the press conference, psychiatrist Dr. George Fraser, medical director of the Ottawa Anxiety and Trauma Clinic, described the range of psychological impacts people are likely to have felt as a result of witnessing the events of Sept. 11 through the media. He also described how to deal with these emotions and generally when an individual should be concerned and seek professional help. The advice and announcement received fairly wide coverage by the major print and television outlets, although it was quickly overshadowed by the media focus on anthrax. The new network consists of 12 groups, including physician groups such as the CPA and the CMA, along with social workers NEWS b 2001 MIAW Celebrates 10 Years of Caring and the CMHA. A Web site has been established on the CMA site that includes fact sheets developed in collaboration with the emergency services office of Health Canada at http//: The idea for the network was born out of an initial meeting called by the CMA with Health Canada and the two CPA organizations. The group intends to continue developing needed tools and information to help Canadians and caregivers deal appropriately with the aftermath of Sept. 11 as it unfolds. In addition, CPA has assembled a group of members who have an interest and expertise in the impact of traumatic events and are currently assessing what tools and information psychiatrists themselves need to meet their patients needs in these circumstances. The CPA Web site is also a place to which members can look for links to helpful resources. While it took all of us a bit of time to realize that our members may want some guidance on appropriate resources, we have now placed a number of resources on the Web site that may be of interest and help to members, says Dr. Rima Styra, editor-in-chief of the CPA Web site. Marking its tenth Mental Illness Awareness Week campaign (MIAW), this year the CPA saluted the thousands of individuals and groups who organized and participated in diverse and innovative MIAW events over the last nine years with its theme Let s Unmask Mental Illness A Decade of Caring. This year s campaign focus, Making a Difference Shed light, Give hope, Take Action, celebrated individuals and groups making a difference: people proving that light can be shone and hope can be given by taking action in a personal, professional, voluntary or governmental way. Participants were encouraged to send politicians and influential policy-makers a postcard that included some poignant statistics about mental illness in Canada and urged the adoption of a national action plan. The 15,000 English postcards and 5,000 French postcards printed for this year s Mental Illness Awareness Week (MIAW) campaign were all distributed two weeks before MIAW officially began on October 7. Communications materials prepared to help groups plan and put on local events were made available to a network of more than 6,000 community groups, hospitals, community health boards and other groups. This year the CPA president, Dr. Michael Myers, sent a personal letter to each member of parliament, asking each of them to raise the issue of mental illness in the House on World Mental Health Day. Two new awards were introduced in The Community Choice Award allowed community groups to vote for a prominent Canadian who has helped and a prominent Canadian who has hindered in the fight against mental illness stigma. The Poster Design Contest encouraged community groups to organize a poster contest and submit three designs to be displayed at the CPA Annual Meeting. CPA Bulletin de l APC Fall 2001 automne 55

6 Disability Insurance Offer Extended Across Canada CPA mem bers can ap ply for dis abil ity cov er age of up to $3,000 per month with out un der go ing a full medi cal exam A lead ing in surer in dis - abil ity prod ucts is of fer ing an atrac tive one- time in - sur ance pack age ex clu - sively to CPA mem bers on a guar an teed stan dard ba - sis. It is aimed es pe cially at mem bers who may have had dif fi cul ties se cur ing ade quate cov er age or those who wish to sup ple ment their cur rent in sur ance. Un der this of fer, CPA mem bers can apply for dis - abil ity cov er age of up to $3,000 a month with out re - quir ing a full medi cal exam or a doc tor s re port. Usual guide lines apply to any amount over $3,000. The form only asks four ques tions says in sur ance con sult ant Di ane Gagné. Gagne has been pro vid ing dis abil ity and life in sur - ance con sul tancy serv ice for CPA mem bers to pro - mote in formed choices on in sur ance op tions in col - labo ra tion with the CPA since Gagné ex plained that this plan is non- cancellable and guar an teed re new able. It also cov ers your own oc - cu pa tion. Pre mi ums are fro zen at the age of is sue un til age 65. The monthly pre mi ums are cal cu lated based on the per son s near - est age. Ex am ples of the pre mi ums per $1,000 of non- taxable bene fit are as fol lows: $23.35 per month for non- smoking fe males 25 years of age ($29.19 for smok ers), $15.56 per month for non- smoking males ($19.46 for smok - ers) of the same age, and $37.78 per month for 40- year- old non- smoking males. The of fer in cor po rates a pre mium dis count of 25 per cent ap pli ca ble on the ini tial pol icy and on all fu - ture in creases. This means that if a mem ber first bought in sur ance cov er age for $1,000 per month and a few years later de cided to in crease this to $3,000, the ad di tional cov er age would also be sub ject to the 25% dis count on re newal of the pol icy. There is no limit to the amount of cov er age you can buy as long as your in come justifies it. It s an un prece dented of - fer that won t be re peated. The vol ume of psy chia - trists ex pected to take up the offer will offset the risk. The of fer is being made only during a se lect time pe riod to avoid antiselection, Gagné ex - plained. This of fer is be ing made available to CPA mem bers in all prov inces ex cept On - tario, where the pro gram has al ready been widely pro - moted in a pi lot phase. Please note the of fer to mem bers in the rest of the country is for a lim ited time only. For fur ther in for ma - tion please con tact Diane Gagné at or e- mail her at cabi net@as sur - ancegagne.com Strong Response to Third Practice Research Network Survey The re sults of the third CPA Prac tice Re search Net work (PRN) sur vey prove that members con - tinue to take the time to re - spond to the CPA PRN. Seventy- four per cent of prac tice re search net work mem bers and 41 per cent of mem bers ran domly cho sen to be part of a con trol group re sponded to this sur vey, for a to tal re - sponse rate of 58 per cent. This rate of re turn is simi lar to ear lier sur - veys and sug gests that if mem bers feel the is - sues sur veyed are rele vant to their prac tice, they will take the time to com plete even long sur veys, said Dr. Nady el- Guebaly, chair of the CPA PRN. This sur vey in cluded ques - tions about the prac tis ing psy chia trists sat is fac tion with their in ter ac tion with dis abil ity and life in sur ance com pa nies, their experi - ence with vio lent pa tients, the use of the psy cho thera - pies in their prac tice and stress within the pro fes - sion. An in cen tive was pro vided for com plet ing the survey. Re spon dents were eli gi ble Members were surveyed on dis - abil ity in sur ance, psychotherapies and their own stress for prizes con sist ing of a palm pi lot or digi tal cam - era. Win ners were Dr. David Ad dle man, Dr. Vic - to ria Jones, Dr. Badri Rickhi, Dr. Mariam Vania Bal bu lia and Dr. Richard Ver reault. The PRN is mod eled on simi lar ini tia tives in the United States and Aus tra - lia. This and the ear lier sur veys in Can ada pro - vide a unique win - dow on the way our pro fes sion is deal ing with clini cal and timely pro - fes sional is - sues, re marked el- Guebaly, whose term as the PRN Chair is near ing an end. Dr. Pi erre Beauséjour, Chair of the CPA Board, noted at a re cent ex ecu tive com mit tee meet ing, This CPA serv ice has been shaped by el- Guebaly and made fea si ble be cause of his level of com mit ment and amount of vol un teer time, as well as that of Dr. Mark At kin son at the Uni - ver sity of Cal gary. We have put a call for ap pli ca - tions to replace el- Guebaly af ter his term ends and will be asking the board to re - view the fu ture of the serv - ice within the CPA. 56 CPA Bulletin de l APC Fall 2001 automne

7 World Health Organization 2001 annual report focuses on mental health In tro duc ing the re port en ti tled Men tal Health: New Un der stand ing, New Hope, the di rec tor gen eral, Dr. Gro Har lem Brundt land, re marks, In more ways than one, we make this sim ple point: we have the means and the sci en tific knowl edge to help peo ple with mental and brain dis or ders. Gov ern ments have been re - miss, as has been the pub lic health com mu nity. By ac ci dent or by design, we are all re spon si - ble for this situa tion. As the world s lead ing pub lic health agency, WHO has one, and only one option to en sure that ours will be the last gen era tion that al lows shame and stigma to rule over sci - ence and rea son. Brundt land adds, this re port deals with de pres sive dis or ders, schizo phre nia, men tal re tar da - tion, dis or ders of child hood and ado les cence, drug and al - co hol de pend ence, Alz heimer s dis ease and epi lepsy. All of these are com mon and usu ally cause se vere disability Our re port is a com pre hen sive re view of what we know about the current and future bur den of all these dis - or ders and their prin ci pal con trib ut ing fac tors. It deals with the ef fec tive ness of pre ven tion and the avail abil ity of, and bar ri ers to, treat ment. We deal in detail with serv - ice pro vi sion and serv ice plan ning. And, fi nally, the re - port out lines poli cies needed to ensure that stigma and dis crimi na tion are bro ken down, and that ef fec tive pre - ven tion and treatment are put in place and ade quately funded. The re port is avail able on- line at http//: New CPANet Features For CPA Members Only On- line mem ber ship directory. Cor rect your co or di nates, find a col league. Fully se cure and pass word pro tected. E- Learning from CPA and DigiS cript, Inc. Learn at your own pace, in your own en vi ron ment. A digital li brary of CPA annual meet ing ses sions. Free to mem bers only. CPA s own com pre hen sive self- assessment ques tion naire with feed back. Com ing late No vem ber 2001 and free to mem bers only. On- line con fer enc ing op por tu ni ties. For com mit tee work. Sec tions and interest ar eas can ap ply to create a virtual com mu nity. Ac cess by mem bers only. Coalition of Ontario Psychiatrists Issues New Planning Paper Just as a se ries of im ple men ta tion task forces for re struc tur ing lo cal and re gional mental health sys tems got un der way this sum mer, the Coa li tion of On tario Psy chia trists re leased a new pa per, Con tinu ing to Meet the Chal lenge Fa cili tat ing Re cov ery, which sug gested a model for the de liv ery of men tal health serv - ices. The pa per pro poses an in te gra tion frame work for men tal health services for adults with se - vere and per sis tent mental ill ness, fo cus ing on many of the is sues in the 1999 On tario men tal health re form docu ment Mak ing it Hap pen. Un der ly ing the Coa li tion s frame work are five prin ci - ples: 1) adoption of a popu la tion health ap proach, 2) em pha sis on re cov ery (as op posed to main te nance), 3) use of evidence- based in ter ven tions, 4) pro mo tion of serv ice in te gra tion by means of multi- service teams, and 5) des ig na tion of lead agen cies. The pa per points out that the adop tion of a re cov ery ob jec tive in tro duces a new level of ex pec ta tion for men tal health services. The pa per also states, If the mis sion of men tal health serv ices is to fa cili tate re cov ery of peo ple with severe and per sis tent men tal ill ness, then a new range of com - plex serv ice tasks must be un der taken to ef fec tively sup port the per son to live a rich and ful fill ing life in the com mu nity. The frame work de fines the com po nents of evidencebased treat ment func tions: psy cho phar ma col ogy, fam - ily sup port, sub stance abuse, tar geted cog ni tive- be - hav ioural ther apy, per sonal ther apy and cri sis in ter ven tion. It also out lines the range of re ha bili ta tion func tions for per sons with se vere and per sis tent men tal ill ness: vo ca tional re ha bili ta tion, neurocognitivebased re ha bili ta tion, be hav ioural skill train ing and ac - tive com mu nity in te gra tion fo cus ing on supportive edu ca tion, hous ing, rec rea tion or so ciali za tion. Authors of the pa pers: Dr. Rich ard Sabo, St. Jo se ph s Health Centre in Lon don; Dr. Glo ria Mazzo, Rhode Is - land, USA, and Dr. Alan Ep pel, St. Jo se ph s Hos pi tal in Ham il ton. The pa per is avail able from the authors and through the On tario Psy chi at ric As so cia tion at CPA Bulletin de l APC Fall 2001 automne 57