An Environmental Scan of Mental Health and Mental Illness in Atlantic Canada.2007.

An overview of mental health issues and priorities in Atlantic Canada.
By Martha Muzychka
59 pages
...html
...download full report (454 KB)

Description

This 59-page report provides a snapshot of mental health issues in Atlantic Canada. The report was commissioned by the Atlantic Regional Office of the Public Health Agency of Canada to guide the Agency's work on mental health and social and economic inclusion. Information for the report was collected through interviews with 39 key informants as well as reviews of both literature and epidemiological data.

The report describes the status of mental health in each of the four Atlantic provinces as well as status relating to the various determinants of health, gathered from a variety of primary sources. It identifies six key issues as priorities for action related to mental health programming:

• a rapidly aging population characterized by out-migration and declining birth rates
  
• the long-term impacts of returning Armed Forces personnel
  
• reduced mental health human resources capacity in the region
  
• the diverse needs and issues associated with a growing immigrant population
  
• suicide in Atlantic Canada's Aboriginal communities
  
• disengagement and alienation among the region's African-Canadian communities.

Four recommendations are offered to guide the work of the Atlantic Regional Office in addressing these priorities:

1. Support the development of innovative models of community-based mental health service delivery that reflect the principles of population health, best practices, and evidence-based decision making.
   
2. Support the development of gender-sensitive and culturally and linguistically appropriate mental health promotion materials in both English and French.
   
3. Review mental health programming to increase responsiveness to youth, seniors, women, immigrants, African Canadians, and Aboriginal peoples.
   
4. Facilitate the transfer, within Atlantic Canada, of information and knowledge regarding best practices for mental health services.

An annotated bibliography of 28 key works on mental health and illness is included in an appendix.

Credits

An Environmental Scan of Mental Health and Mental Illness in Atlantic Canada was produced by Martha Muzychka for the Atlantic Regional Office of the Public Health Agency of Canada. The work was guided and supported by an advisory committee of people from the following organizations:

• Canadian Mental Health Association, New Brunswick Division
  
• Canadian Mental Health Association, Newfoundland and Labrador Division
  
• Canadian Mental Health Association, Nova Scotia Division
  
• Canadian Mental Health Association, Prince Edward Island Division
  
• Health Canada, Atlantic Regional Office
  
• Mental Health and Addiction Services, Annapolis Valley Health, Nova Scotia
  
• New Brunswick Department of Health
  
• Nova Scotia Department of Health

Availability

This publication is available for download in English and French in both html and pdf formats. To open the pdf file you will need the Adobe Acrobat Reader.

... html English		... pdf English (454 KB)
... html French		... pdf French (532 KB)

For more information, contact:

Public Health Agency of Canada
Suite 1525, 15th Floor, Maritime Centre
1505 Barrington Street
Halifax, NS B3J 3Y6
Tel: (902) 426-2700
Fax: (902) 426-9689
E-mail: atlantic-atlantique@phac-aspc.gc.ca