The province has released its new provincial mental-health strategic plan and will invest more than $400,000 to implement initiatives such as establishing a trauma resource centre to strengthen mental-health services in Manitoba. This announcement was made by Health Minister Theresa Oswald.
“Our new, five-year strategic plan looks at ways to improve mental-health services and supports to ensure all Manitobans can get the resources they need and the best help possible when they need it,” said Oswald. “The trauma resource centre is one of the first new initiatives that will support the plan and will further help Manitobans in need of mental-health services and supports.”
A 20-member provincial advisory group provided initial advice in the development of Rising to the Challenge: A Strategic Plan for the Mental Health and Well-Being of Manitobans. The province also consulted people who have experienced mental-health problems and illnesses, family members, service providers and policy makers from across Manitoba.
“Manitoba has taken a major step forward with the release of their strategy. The comprehensive nature of Rising to the Challenge, including its focus on mental-health promotion, recovery, cultural safety and family participation, is a welcome sign the government is addressing the complex issues surrounding mental health and mental illness,” said Louise Bradley, president and chief executive officer of the Mental Health Commission of Canada. “I’m also pleased that the Manitoba government was able to use Toward Recovery and Well-being, our framework for a mental-health strategy for Canada, to help inform their work.”
The plan includes a combination of actions to promote good mental health and strengthen the systems that provide support and services to those with mental-health problems, such as:
• identifying ways to strengthen service navigation across the mental-health system;
• developing a provincial action plan for mental-health promotion and mental-illness prevention;
• reducing barriers to mental-health services, with a focus on Aboriginals and newcomers to Canada;
• strengthening service co-ordination within and between regional health authorities, government departments, other jurisdictions and organizations;
• influencing policy and practices that support people in employment;
• developing a provincial workforce strategy to assess and guide recruitment, training and retention of the mental-health services workforce;
• developing a provincial program to reduce stigma and social prejudice with an initial focus on health-care providers, children and youth; and
• working with provincial partners to address the service needs of people with acquired brain injuries.
“Rising to the Challenge is an inspiring, ambitious and ‘must-do’ invitation to all Manitobans individually and collectively as a society to create one of the best provincial mental-health systems in Canada,” said Chris Summerville, executive director of the Manitoba Schizophrenia Society and the Schizophrenia Society of Canada. “Truly realistic, hopeful, visionary, practical, person-centred and recovery-oriented, this provincial strategy has the real potential to lead to the transformation of mental-health services in our province in improving and increasing mental health and well-being for all.”
The plan will be implemented over the next five years, Oswald said. To view the plan, visit www.gov.mb.ca/health/mh/challenge.html.
“Strong mental-health services and supports, such as those outlined in the strategy, are key to supporting the needs of Manitobans,” said John Stinson, chief executive officer of South Eastman Health-Santé Sud-Est. “We’re excited that the province is moving forward and supporting a new crisis stabilization unit in Steinbach to reduce psychiatric admissions to regional hospitals and ensure people get the care they need, when they need it.”
The minister announced that $150,000 of the funding will be invested to support the creation of a trauma resource centre in Manitoba. The resources will be used to support a trauma co-ordinator and other resources at the Klinic Community Health Centre to work with a variety of partners to support the work of the Manitoba Trauma Partnership, a group of more than 20 organizations. The work will increase capacity of service providers to better meet and support the needs of people affected by psychological trauma and will include the development of print materials, ongoing website updates and supporting links to other experts, she said.
“Trauma and trauma-informed care are central and critical issues in mental health. This announcement is further evidence of Manitoba’s leadership, innovation in mental health and its commitment to compassionate support for those whose lives have been affected by trauma,” said Tim Wall, director of counselling services with Klinic. “Manitoba is leading the way in Canada when it comes to promoting trauma-informed practices in health care and human services.”
For more information on trauma care in Manitoba, visit www.trauma-informed.ca.
Since 1999, Manitoba has made a number of investments in mental-health care including:
• investing more than $600,000 to establish a special court to work with accused whose mental-health issues are the likely cause of their criminal behaviour and expanding mental-health services to better support these individuals,
• beginning construction on a $14.7-million stand-alone mental-health crisis response centre located at Health Sciences Centre Winnipeg,
• constructing a five-bed acquired brain injury unit in Thompson,
• investing more than $25 million to modernize services at the Selkirk Mental Health Centre with the development of the Tyndall Building, and
• providing $688,000 to hire registered psychiatric nurses to work in five additional emergency departments across Manitoba.
