Update: CMHA Wants Health Care Equity For Mental Health

Sep 17, 2018 | 11:07 AM

The Canadian Mental Health Association is calling for improvements in mental health care for Canadians.

It says mental heath care is often neglected and under funded compared with physical health care.

Julia Payson, Executive Director for CMHA’s, Vernon & District Branch, thinks stigma plays a large role.

“Once we start getting past that stigma, that’s when we start seeing the importance. So what we need now is, we’ve started to have recognition that mental health is important and now we need the funding for that whole continuum services.”

That includes early intervention programs and identifying who’s at risk.

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“One of the biggest struggles we have with mental health systems is because it’s really crisis oriented, if someone feels like they’re struggling with depression they may hit a number of barriers to getting treatment and they may, at that point, minimize what they’re going through. And because it’s a stigmatized disease and because most of our medical treatment is around the extreme end, people have a lot of fears to go in and talk about depression and anxiety.”

Payson says mental health problems can’t be seen on the surface like a broken arm, we don’t always make them priorities until it is too late.

“Every dollar spent on publicly available psychological services, that saves two dollars in the health care system. So we need to have really forward thinking policies and planning that says we can invest this now and we will see those returns later.”

Payson says there are a couple of well proven evidence-based programs that work, including Bounce Back® for adults and youth, which helps individuals overcome symptoms of mild to moderate depression or anxiety, and improve their mental health.

The program is free, but only offered in BC, Manitoba and Ontario.

CMHA says worldwide, mental Illness accounts for about 23 per cent of the total disease burden, while Canada dedicates only 7.2 per cent of its health-care budget to mental health.

It released a survey showing 85 per cent of people feel mental health services are the most under funded service in the health care system.

Payson says there’s a compelling case to increase spending by at least 14 per cent to save money and lives later.

It’s estimated by 2020, depression is expected to be the leading cause of disease in Canada.

For more information on the CMHA proposal click here.

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The Canadian Mental Health Association is calling for improvements in mental health care for Canadians.

It says mental heath care is often neglected and under funded compared with physical health care.

CMHA is proposing “The Mental Health Parity Act” to not just increase funding for mental health services, but also to improve coordination, treatment, research and access, and making better choices about how best to spend health-care dollars effectively.

Julia Payson, Executive Director for Canadian Mental Health Association, Vernon & District Branch, says because mental health problems can’t be seen on the surface like a broken arm, we don’t always make them priorities until it is too late
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She says suicide is the second most common cause of death amongst our youth in British Columbia, yet only one out of five children who needs mental health services receives them.

The CMHA policy paper released this morning calls for new legislation to address unmet mental health needs and bring mental health care into balance with physical health care.

According to a new survey commissioned by the Canadian Mental Health Association, 85 per cent of Canadians say mental health services are among the most underfunded services in our health-care system-and the 86 per cent agree that the Government of Canada should fund mental health at the same level as physical health.

Despite recent mental health funding commitments made by the federal government, over 1.6 million Canadians report unmet mental health care needs each year.

Julia Payson says Canadians are fortunate that we all have access to a universal health care system.

“Unfortunately, there is a disparity between our medical system and health care that provides basic mental health services and supports.”

Fifty-three per cent of Canadians consider anxiety and depression to be ‘epidemic’ in Canada, with that perception spiking amongst younger people.

Fifty-nine per cent of 18 to 34-year-olds consider anxiety and depression to be ‘epidemic’ in Canada, followed closely by addiction and ahead of physical illnesses such as cancer, heart disease and stroke, diabetes and HIV/AIDS.

CMHA says worldwide, mental illness accounts for about 23 per cent of the total disease burden, yet Canada dedicates only 7.2 per cent of its health-care budget to mental health.

By 2020, depression is expected to be the leading cause of disease in Canada.

Lengthy wait times are a problem, in part, because there has been a chronic under funding of community-based mental health services and a reliance on intensive, high-cost services like psychiatrists and hospitals.

Up to 80 per cent of Canadians rely on their family physicians to meet their mental health care needs, but those services are limited.

Evidence-based health care provided by addiction counselors, psychologists, social workers and specialized peer support workers is the foundation of the mental health response in other G7 countries, but these services are not guaranteed through our public system.

Consequently, Canadians spend almost one billion dollars on counselling services each year-30 per cent of it out of pocket.

CMHA Vernon & District provides education, employment and empowerment to individuals and families across the mental health continuum.

Julia Payson says programs serve a diverse population aged seven to 75+ providing affordable housing, social enterprise employment and training programs, peer support and mental wellness education.

“Programs for some of our most vulnerable community members such as youth aged 7 to 17, are funded entirely by donations and grants. Other programs receive partial government funding, but must rely on community donations to continue operating.”

Many people with complex or chronic mental health problems do not receive the full scope of care they need and end up cycling through the acute care system.

A more integrated continuum of care provided through community mental health services can meet the needs of as many people with mental health problems as possible by including early intervention and prevention, enhanced treatment for those who need it, and longer-term follow-up and supervision for those with severe and persistent illness.

In addition to improving quality of life and health outcomes, mental health promotion, mental illness prevention and early intervention can reduce the burden on our health-care system.

A recent study on the treatment of depression estimated that every dollar spent on publicly funded psychological services would save two dollars for the health system.

“Our vision of mentally healthy people in a healthy society can be achieved by improving service and supports for the one in five Canadians who will experience mental illness annually,” says Payson.

To read more on the report, click here.

by Tom Mark