Research to better understand how mental health services are being accessed and provided by Canadian organizations

• “The Mental Health Commission of Canada and the Canadian Psychological Association, in partnership with Saint Mary’s University, are conducting research to better understand how mental health services are being accessed and provided by Canadian organizations.
• COMPLETE THE EMPLOYEE SURVEY
• COMPLETE THE EMPLOYER SURVEY
• Your participation in a short, online survey (10-15 minutes) will improve our knowledge of employees’ experience in accessing psychological services and employers’ strategic decisions on providing coverage for them in Canadian workplaces. The anonymous survey is available online in French or English. This study protocol has been approved by the Saint Mary’s University Research Ethics Board (File #21-032).
• Please complete the Employee Survey or the Employer Survey (as someone with an active role in your organization’s human resource or mental health strategy or psychological health and safety management systems).

• La Commission de la santé mentale du Canada et la Société canadienne de psychologie, en partenariat avec l’Université Saint Mary’s, mènent une recherche pour mieux comprendre la manière dont les organismes canadiens accèdent aux services de santé mentale et les fournissent.
• SONDAGE À L’INTENTION DES EMPLOYÉS
• SONDAGE À L’INTENTION DES EMPLOYEURS
• Votre participation à un court sondage en ligne (10 à 15 minutes) nous permettra de mieux connaître l’expérience des employés en matière d’accès aux services psychologiques ainsi que les décisions stratégiques des employeurs quant à la couverture de ces services dans les lieux de travail canadiens. Ce sondage est anonyme et est disponible en ligne en français et en anglais. Ce protocole d’étude a été approuvé par le Comité d’éthique de la recherche de l’Université Saint Mary’s (dossier n° 21-032).
• Veuillez répondre au Sondage à l’intention des employés ou au Sondage à l’intention des employeurs (à titre de personne jouant un rôle actif dans les systèmes de gestion des ressources humaines, de la stratégie de santé mentale ou de la santé et de la sécurité psychologiques de votre organisme).

Ottawa Aboriginal Coalition (OAC) Research Project Launch

 We would like to share with you the opportunity to support our partner the Ottawa Aboriginal Coalition (OAC) who has been working with Ottawa Public Health (OPH) and the University of Ottawa Institute of Mental Health Research to create a community-based research project called “Ottawa Indigenous Community Members’ Experiences of COVID-19.”

 The research is looking at the experiences of the Ottawa urban Indigenous community members (First Nations, Métis, and Inuit) since March 2020.

OAC released the survey last week and is hoping to get 1,000 Indigenous community members to respond. ​Please share widely with your networks.

More information can be found at the following website and on the attached posters.

• EN-OAC COVID-19 Research Poster
• IN-OAC COVID-19 Research Poster
• FR-OAC COVID-19 Research Poster

https://www.ottawaaboriginalcoalition.ca/covid-19-research-project

Monitoring the Health and Social Impacts of COVID-19 

“The COVID-19 pandemic is impacting us in significant ways. We have all been affected by the closure of schools and businesses, and the challenges that come with physical distancing and wearing a mask in our daily lives.  

Ottawa Public Health (OPH) is committed to monitoring the health and social impacts of COVID-19 over the weeks and months ahead – to understand how Ottawa residents are managing through this time, and to use this information to work with the community to provide supports where needed.  

One of the tools OPH will use to shape our understanding of these impacts is a population-level survey of Ottawa residents. The survey will be conducted at regular intervals over the course of the year. Results will be summarized in themes and posted once available.”

“Suivi des conséquences sanitaires et sociales de la COVID-19
La pandémie de COVID-19 se répercute sur nous de façon significative. Nous avons tous été touchés par la fermeture des écoles, des commerces et des entreprises, ainsi que par les défis inhérents à la distanciation physique et au port d’un masque dans notre vie quotidienne.
Au cours des semaines et des mois à venir, Santé publique Ottawa (SPO) s’emploiera à surveiller les conséquences sanitaires et sociales de la COVID-19 afin de comprendre la façon dont les résidents d’Ottawa surmontent cette période et d’utiliser cette information pour travailler avec la collectivité et lui apporter l’aide dont elle a besoin.
Pour ce faire, SPO se fondera sur différents outils et notamment sur un sondage mené auprès de l’ensemble de la population d’Ottawa, et ce, à intervalles réguliers au cours de l’année. Les résultats seront présentés par thème et seront publiés une fois disponibles.”

• Ottawa Public Health website

Reports:

• La situation de la sante mentale a Ottawa pendant la pandemie COVID-19_oct2020
• OPH MH Report Presentation – Jan 25 2021
• Status of Mental Health in Ottawa During the COVID-19 Pandemic_Oct2020

Research – Impacts on MH&A in Relation to Covid-19: “From risk to resilience: An equity approach to COVID-19”

Chief Public Health Officer of Canada’s Report on the State of Public Health in Canada 2020

DOWLOAD REPORT HERE

Table of contents

• Message from the Chief Public Health Officer of Canada
• About this report
• Section 1: COVID-19 in Canada
  • Introduction
  • Beginning of COVID-19
  • Epidemiological snapshot of COVID-19
  • Canada’s public health response
• Section 2: COVID-19 is not impacting Canadians equally
  • The health of people in Canada was inequitable before COVID-19
  • Differences in COVID-19 morbidity and mortality
  • Impact of public health measures in response to COVID-19
• Section 3: Moving forward from COVID-19
  • Crisis can lead to change: A health equity approach
  • High impact areas of action
  • Foundational requirements for structural change
• The way forward
• Appendix 1: Timeline of selected milestones and public health interventions (December 2019 to June 2020)
• Appendix 2: Methodology
  • Process
  • Limitations
• Acknowledgements
• Endnotes
• References

TRANSITION TO VIRTUAL CARE

An evaluation of Ontario’s transition to virtual child and youth mental health service delivery in response to the COVID-19 pandemic

• Transition to virtual care_Final Report_Oct30

COVID-19 PANDEMIC – RAEB’S EVIDENCE UPDATE

• Highlights of health research evidence synthesized by the Research, Analysis and Evaluation Branch (RAEB)
  September 28, 2020
• RAEB’s COVID-19 Evidence Update #27_28-SEPT-2020

Enablers for Virtual Visits – CADTH Policy Insights

• Read more here

OPH Status of Mental Health During COVID-19

• OPH Status of Mental Health in Ottawa During COVID-19 Pandemic_June2020
• La Situation de la sante mentale a Ottawa pendant la pandemie de COVID-19_juin2020_FR

• Systemic racism, barriers explain higher rates of COVID-19 among immigrant, non-white communities in Ottawa: Experts

• Readings (curated by OLIP, June 2020), “to understand the history and nature of anti-Black racism in Canada. The list is not exhaustive but provides resources to support learning, understanding and taking action in the fight against institutional and systemic racism in our society.”
• Opportunities for White People in the Fight for Racial Justice
• Policing Black Lives by Robyn Maynard
• White fragility by Robin DiAngelo
• The Skin We’re In by Desmond Cole
• Black Life: Post Black Lives Matter and the Struggle for Freedom by Rinaldo Walcott and Idil Abdillahi
• Until We Are Free: Reflections on Black Lives Matter in Canada edited by Rodney Diverlus, Sandy Hudson, and Syrus Marcus Ware
• Me and White Supremacy by Layla Saad

Occurrence, prevention, and management of the psychological effects of emerging virus outbreaks on healthcare workers: rapid review and meta-analysis

• https://www.bmj.com/content/bmj/369/bmj.m1642.full.pdf

COVID-19 Epidemiology Update – OTTAWA PUBLIC HEALTH

• Report compiled on May 29, 2020, 11:00 am
• COVID-2019 epi update_20200529

The Cost of Not Providing Health Care Interpretation in the Champlain Region

This document provides an overview of the negative health and health system impacts of not providing professional language interpretation for clients with limited English or French proficiency (LEFP) when they utilise health services.

Read the document here: http://olip-plio.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Cost-of-Not-Providing-Interpretation-for-Health-Care-Providers-FINAL.pdf 

Are we facing a crashing wave of neuropsychiatric sequelae of COVID-19? Neuropsychiatric symptoms and potential immunologic mechanisms

Published Online April 13, 2020

Highlights:

• The COVID-19 pandemic is a significant source of psychological distress globally
• The novel coronavirus and host immunologic response may also directly affect brain and behaviour
• Acute and delayed neuropsychiatric sequelae have been associated with past viral pandemics
• Prospective monitoring of COVID-19 patients is needed to determine neuropsychiatric outcomes
• A psychoneuroimmunology perspective will aid in promoting post-pandemic public mental health

Read the article here: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S088915912030489X

COVID-19 paranoia in a patient suffering from schizophrenic psychosis – a case report

Published online April 17, 2020. Report on the case of a patient with schizophrenia presenting with COVID-19-related delusions and hallucinations, illustrating the potential of COVID-19 to precipitate entry into a psychotic phase and impact symptom manifestation.

Read the article here: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7162758/

How Covid-19 Affects the Brain, During, and After Sickness

Anecdotal evidence of the impacts on COVID-19 survivors’ mental health. 

Read the story here: https://elemental.medium.com/how-covid-19-affects-the-brain-during-and-after-sickness-7f28461033f3

Summary of the International Lessons Learned from Re-Opening non-COVID-19 activities in Hospitals (McMaster University)

Read the full document here: https://www.mcmasterforum.org/docs/default-source/covidend/rapid-evidence-profiles/covid-19-rep-7_hospital-reopening.pdf?sfvrsn=38457d5_2 

Virtual Mental Health Care Training  Needs and Preferences Survey: For Mental Health Practitioners

STUDY: THE SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC CONCERNS OF IMMIGRANTS DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Released: 2020-05-01

“All Canadians are concerned about the health, economic and social ramifications of COVID-19. However, a short study published today suggests that immigrants to Canada may be more concerned about the impact of COVID-19 than Canadian-born people.”

READ MORE HERE

POLICING THE PANDEMIC

Tracking the Policing of COVID-19 Across Canada

“The Policing the Pandemic Mapping Project was launched on 4 April, 2020 to track and visualize the massive and extraordinary expansions of police power in response to the COVID-19 Pandemic and the unequal patterns of enforcement that may arise as a result. The project aims to bring to light COVID-19 related patterns of police intervention to help understand who is being targeted, what justifications are being used by police, and how marginalized people are being impacted.”

See the website and research here: https://www.policingthepandemic.ca/

How might this impact Mental Health clients?

An additional resource is found here: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/here-s-where-ottawans-are-being-fined-for-hanging-out-in-parks-1.5541552