A hub for education, health promotion and policy

CAMH Annual Report

CAMH’s education, health promotion and publishing programs work side-by-side with research and clinical programs. This allows us to turn CAMH’s discoveries and best practices into knowledge that we can exchange with the general public, clients and families, as well as health professionals, organizations and policy makers throughout Ontario, across Canada and around the world,” says Gail Czukar, Executive Vice-President, Policy, Education and Health Promotion. “The Queen Street site redevelopment will promote greater interaction among CAMH staff and with clients. This will lead to new initiatives and even greater impact.”

Building capacity across Ontario

Dr. L. Trevor Young, Physician-in-Chief and Executive Vice-President, Programs, during Grand Rounds.

Through training programs, resources and health promotion, CAMH promotes better services across Ontario for people with mental health and substance use problems.

We held a record numbers of courses, workshops, forums and information sessions to help people working in substance use, mental health and related fields. These included 196 professional continuing education workshops with approximately 6,100 staff and front-line community-based professionals; six forums on concurrent disorders with 300 professionals and 300 family members in three cities, and seven public education forums for 450 clients and family members; and six training sessions and a 19-site video conference on postpartum depression.

Through new programs, we are helping health care providers in under-served areas. For example, as a result of a pilot mental health telephone consultation service, developed with the University of Toronto’s Psychiatric Outreach Program, physicians in northern communities can now call a toll-free number to access CAMH psychiatrists and pharmacists. Callers get clinical advice and resources from a full mental health team.

Susan Morris, Clinical Director, Dual Diagnosis Program. The Dual Diagnosis Program at CAMH offers access to specialized clinical services, via clinical video conferencing, for adults with both mental health needs and developmental disabilities in northwestern Ontario. Distance can be a challenge when accessing clinical services, particularly in remote communities. This service helps people with significant mental health needs to get services where and when they need them.

Expanding access to resources with e-learning

CAMH has developed an e-learning strategy to expand access to CAMH programs and resources. We currently offer nine online courses, including a mental health course for Aboriginal counsellors in eight remote communities in northwestern Ontario.

CAMH is also using web-based technology to distribute resources. For the first time, most of our public information materials and many publications are available on CAMH’s website, www.camh.net, free of charge. This gives clients, families, students, service providers, health professionals and policy makers access to the most current mental health and substance use information. In December 2005 alone, our website received over 80,000 visits and more than 165,000 documents were downloaded.

CAMH is one of the largest producers of evidence-based resources. Our current publications catalogue lists 106 titles. These include books, papers, videos, pamphlets and magazines with a variety of uses, from university and college courses to client and family self-help.

This year, we were proud that the third edition of Alcohol & Drug Problems: A Practical Guide for Counsellors received the award for highest distinction in the annual competition of the Society for Technical Communication. We were delighted that Wishes and Worries, a storybook to help children understand a parent’s alcohol problem, generated extensive media attention and substantial sales.

Promoting health in diverse communities

CAMH is working with health providers and community agencies to develop resources and programs that are inclusive of and appropriate for a range of people—from ethnic and First Nations communities, to lesbian, gay and transgendered people, to seniors and youth.

As a result of a project with seven ethnic communities, our Low Risk Drinking Guidelines were culturally adapted and translated into five languages (Polish, Portuguese, Punjabi, Russian and Tamil), and two alcohol-related posters were produced for the Serbian and Somali communities.

At the request of the Distress Relief Network Committee, Citizenship and Immigration Canada funded the translation of our photo novellas Depression and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder into Tamil for use in communities affected by the 2004 Tsunami.

Through our Provincial Cross Training Pilot Project, CAMH helps local communities build their capacity to provide accessible substance use and mental health services through collaboration and local partnerships. This year, our two-day workshops in 12 communities across Ontario drew record numbers. Those who attended included substance use and mental health service providers, community organizations, school guidance counsellors, faith groups, shelter workers, First Nations groups and francophone organizations.

CAMH also delivered training programming for mainstream organizations on building and sustaining equitable partnerships with community organizations. We worked with Toronto’s Sherbourne Health Centre, the Hong Fook Mental Health Association and others on this project.

Diversity training for CAMH staff continues to be a priority. This year, over 300 staff attended 18 workshops, including an introduction to diversity, diversity training for managers and a new diversity program geared to researchers. A new curriculum on clinical cultural competence was piloted with over 80 clinical staff from the General Psychiatry Program, then offered to staff in the Addictions Program.

Influencing public policy

Gail Czukar, Executive Vice-President, Policy, Education and Health Promotion, with Councillor Kyle Rae at the announcement of the Toronto Drug Strategy.

CAMH works closely with community partners to promote public policies and government programs that will enhance the lives of people affected by substance use and mental health issues.

Persistent lobbying efforts for a national mental health strategy, and support for the work of Senator Michael Kirby’s committee examining mental health in Canada, paid off in November with the announcement of a new Canadian Mental Health Commission. We continue discussions with the new Minister of Health now that the federal government has changed. We are also an active partner in the National Framework for Action to Reduce the Harms Associated with Alcohol and Other Drugs and Substances in Canada.

At the provincial level, CAMH continued to work hard to ensure that the needs of people with mental health and substance use problems are addressed in the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care’s transformation agenda. In partnership with the Canadian Mental Health Association–Ontario and the Ontario Federation of Community Mental Health and Addiction Programs, we organized a web conference with over 200 participants on the legislation to set up the new Local Health Integration Networks (LHINs), commissioned a research paper on the impact of regionalized health care, and developed a guide to help mental health and substance use service providers work with their local LHIN.

CAMH continued its work with the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care on policy initiatives such as the Geriatric Mental Health Policy Framework. We also participated in consultations on the Liquor Licence Act, the Safe Schools Act and discussions about privatizing the sale of alcohol.

In Toronto, CAMH contributed research and advice to the Toronto Drug Strategy. We were pleased to see that the strategy, approved by city council in December 2005, provides a comprehensive and co-ordinated approach to alcohol and other drug issues with its focus on prevention, enforcement, treatment and harm reduction. We will focus on implementing a provincial strategy next.

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