Three programs exhibit groundbreaking work: Innovative CAMH projects recognized at Health Care Expo

A friend, a coworker, a family member is in crisis. Maybe they’ve been snared by an addiction, or perhaps a mental health problem has surfaced. Where can the non-clinician turn for basic information and help in understanding these issues? Mental Health and Addiction 101 is an innovative response to such questions the Education and Training department. Their set of 14 interactive online tutorials was one of four CAMH entrants accepted into the April 22 Celebrating Innovations in Health Care Expo at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.

Mahreen Hasan of Education Services answers questions about CAMH’s new Mental Health & Addiction 101 free online tutorials at Health Expo 2008.

“Everyone who stopped at our booth was excited by the tutorials,” says Mark Fernley of Education Services, adding, “Even people who didn’t stop at the booth knew CAMH and many said they had worked with us or received material from the organization. We have great recognition in the mental health and addictions community.”

Since the launch of the 101 modules, requests to link to them on the CAMH website have come from the Canadian Auto Workers, Canada Post, and several other organizations. The website alone has received more than 100,000 hits.

Completing the great inter-professional presence at the Health Expo were displays by Training Enhancement in Applied Cessation Counselling and Health (TEACH), whose university-accredited program in smoking cessation trains health-care practitioners in practical smoking cessation interventions was featured in the Improving Efficiency through Process Redesign area.

TEACH staff highlighted their program, which trains health care professionals who provide tobacco cessation counselling. (Back) Jean-Francois Crepault, Coordinator for/pour Francophones; Hillary Connolly, Research Analyst; Dr. Marilyn Herie, Project Director. (Front) Blanca Uriarte, Education Associate; Robin Chapchuk, Education Specialist.

“The Health Expo was a fun and collegial way to raise the profile of TEACH among health care providers and organizations – our team really enjoyed the chance to showcase our courses,” said Dr. Marilyn Herie, TEACH Project Director. “A number of health practitioners who visited the booth spoke about how their decision to quit smoking has inspired them to want to learn more about cessation so they can now help their clients.”

Alongside Education and Training’s booth in the Innovations in Health Promotion area were the VALIDITY project’s (Vibrant Action Looking Into Depression In Today’s Young Women) presentation on helping young women share their experiences of depression, and the STOP program’s province wide-wide effort to use community-based resources to reach smokers with a variety of smoking cessation tools.

Cathy Thompson of CAMH demos the booth for VALIDITY (Vibrant Action Looking Into Depression In Today’s Young Women), a participatory research action group developed by CAMH’s Provincial Services group.

The Celebrating Innovations in Health Care Expo is funded by the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care and solicits submissions from health-care providers across the province from whom the successful applicants are chosen to exhibit their work.