Specialized Aboriginal addictions treatment will build ‘community of healing’

May 19-22, 2009, CAMH is celebrating Aboriginal Awareness Week.

This fall, CAMH’s Addictions Program will begin specialized addiction treatment for Aboriginal people, the result of nearly nine years of working to strengthen relationships with Toronto’s three main Aboriginal agencies.

Buy-in, trust, and partnership with the Aboriginal community were essential factors in establishing a program that could be successful, according to Dr. Peter Menzies, Clinic Head, CAMH Aboriginal Services, who spearheaded persistent outreach to Anishnawbe Health, The Meeting Place, and the Native Men’s Residence (NaMeRes).

“I think it’s going to bring CAMH and the native community of Toronto closer together, in terms of a working relationship,” says Dr. Menzies, adding that funding is coming through the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, and the Aboriginal Health Transition Fund-Ontario Adaptation Plan, which became available through the Toronto Central Local Health Integration Network (LHIN) last year.

(L-R) Cree Elder Vern Harper, Kara Greenleaf and Jeff DHondt, Manager, Aboriginal Services perform a traditional smudging ceremony in a room that was specially adapted at CAMH’s Addictions Program for Aboriginal clients.

The new program will offer a 21-day treatment cycle for Aboriginal clients, who will live in-residence at 60 White Squirrel Way (one of the new buildings opened last year as part of the redevelopment of CAMH’s Queen Street site) while receiving treatment. CAMH Addictions Program staff are gathering input from an advisory group of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal psychologists, Aboriginal clients, and the three partnering agencies.

Consultants are also interviewing clients and determining appropriate best practices.

The program is the first of its kind, and will embrace elements from both western and Aboriginal models of treatment, or, as Aboriginal Service Manager Jeff DHondt puts it, welcoming the Western paradigm but cherishing the Aboriginal one.

“[It’s about] building a community of healing,” he says. “It will look very much like other treatment cycles, although others likely won’t have smudging or an elder involved. But the fact is, with adding in that culture, we have something unique.”

Hopes are high that the pilot program will impart valuable learnings for culturally-competent care, according to Dr. Peter Selby, Clinical Director, CAMH Addictions Program. “There’s no doubt we are eager to apply what we learn to improve our own clinical practices and share that knowledge with other providers,” says Dr. Selby.

CAMH’s Dr. Peter Menzies, Clinic Head Aboriginal Services, Judith Tompkins, Executive Vice President Programs and Chief, Nursing and Professional Practice, and Dr. Paul Garfinkel, President and CEO, gather to discuss a new Aboriginal treatment cycle being developed by CAMH’s Addictions Program.

For Dr. Paul Garfinkel, CAMH President and CEO, the specialized treatment and emphasis on culturally competent care is emblematic of the renewed emphasis CAMH is placing on advancing specialized clinical care as it revises its Strategic Plan.

“It’s always important that we remain mindful of how we connect to the individual and their needs, and mindful of our role at CAMH in connecting them to the system,” Dr. Garfinkel says, adding, “I think the work of our staff in this area will serve as a great example of that connection.”