Mental Health in Canada

Why Canada's Mental Health System is Failing Its C: Classroom Instruction for the Mentally Ill Part Tw... : "What are the characteristics of a successful teacher of the mentally ill? 1) comfortable with all social and economic sectors of the popula..."

What are the characteristics of a successful teacher of the mentally ill? 1) comfortable with all social and economic sectors of the population. 2) easy going with a laid back classroom presentation. 3) flexibility- is able to make changes in the lesson plan during the lesson. If the lesson does not appear to be "going over" it's time to change course. The teacher controls the lesson plan and content not the other way around, 4) The teacher is able to locate appropriate learning resources, The teacher also knows how to do research. 5)  The teacher is capable of creating their own teaching resources. 6)  The teacher is capable and willing to make changes to formal curriculum material. 7) The teacher knows their students well and can use this knowledge as a basis for making changes in formal curriculum resources. 8) The teacher must be able to covey that he likes his or her students and looks forward to working with them.

Why Canada's Mental Health System is Failing Its C: Classroom Instruction June 29, 2011 : "In my opinion classroom instruction is one of the key ingredients of a successful psycho-social rehabilitation program. Unfortunately, teach..."

In my opinion classroom instruction is one of the key ingredients of a successful psycho-social rehabilitation program. Unfortunately, teaching classes to the mentally disabled is often considered a frill. This is an element of the program that is often not taken seriously. One of the main reasons that it is not is because many supervisors do not have people on staff who are qualified to teach. For staff who are not or have never been professional teachers the thought of having to teach a class can be quite intimidating. These staff have every right to be hesitant about teaching or leading groups. In my opinion staff who want to teach need professional training. They should either be licensed professional teachers or have had the opportunity to work under a teacher for a minimum of six months. Anything less is not fair to the staff or the residents of the facility. One option might be for residential treatment programs to bring in qualified teachers on a contract basis. Anothe...

Most persons with severe and chronic psychiatric disabilities live in poverty. They are provided with a minimum standard of income and health benefits to survive. Residents of group homes and residential rehabilitation units have little if any money to pursue their personal goals.The situation is made worse by the fact that a large majority of people with psychiatric illness smoke cigarettes. The use of tobacco on a daily basis is a very expensive way to pass the time. I am convinced ,however, that smoking tobacco offers some relief to the residents and for many of them makes their lives tolerable, The psychiatric resident does not have a great deal to look forward to when they get up in the morning. They look forward to having a cigarette and perhaps a coffee and a Coke. In many cases the clients are not provided with caffeinated coffee. Apparently, there is scientific evidence that caffeine interferes with the efficacy of their medications. Ironically,smoking is usually allo...

Why Canada's Mental Health System is Failing Its C: Qualtiy of Life : "What is quality of life for the severely mentally ill person? Quality of life ,of course, includes the the minimum standards for survival su..."

What is quality of life for the severely mentally ill person? Quality of life ,of course, includes the the minimum standards for survival such as food, clothing,a roof over your head and medical and dental care.Too often our present medical system stops at this point. The powers that be think that they have done enough for mental health consumers at this point. In my opinion they have not. If these standards indicate a sufficient quality of life then my dogs and cats meet the minimal requirement. In fact my pets have a better quality of care than this as they also get love, recreation and exercise as well. Something is wrong with this picture. Although there are times in life when survival alone is one's major goal this should not be a permanent state of mind, To be human and a creation of God entitles us to a much more abundant life. Why are we not providing this for persons with severely debilitating psychiatric disorders? The answer, unfortunately, comes down to mone...

Why Canada's Mental Health System is Failing Its C: Why Canada's Mental Health System is Failing part ... : "10) The quality of life of the mental health consumer is often ignored. The average person with a severe and persistent psychiatric disabili..."

10) The quality of life of the mental health consumer is often ignored. The average person with a severe and persistent psychiatric disability lives in a state of poverty. If their finances are not managed by a mental health worker the client is often going to have great difficulty managing his or her money. A few clients may have learned how to manage their money prior to becoming ill. In my experience the majority of psychiatric rehabilitation clients have little success in applying this essential life skill. This should not come as a surprise as a large number of people who have not been diagnosed with a severe mental illness also have great difficulty managing their money. Living in a constant state of poverty and/or debt is not good for anyone's mental health. Being able to pursue hobbies is a significant factor in a person's quality of life, As most of us know most hobbies cost money. The severely mentally disabled are often unable to pursue their passions in life due t...

Why Canada's Mental Health System is Failing Its C: Why Canada's Mental Health System is Failing its C... : "(cont.): 7) The wishes of the mental health consumers are sometimes requested but their indicated desires are often ignored. Government bur..."

(cont.): 7) The wishes of the mental health consumers are sometimes requested but their indicated desires are often ignored. Government bureaucracies still think that they know better than the mental health consumers themselves. The bureaucrats' decisions are not based on their personal experiences but are often a reflection of the latest trend in mental health theory. Theories by their very nature come, go and sometimes recycle themselves years later. During this process the mental health consumer finds themselves involuntarily being part of the next great experiment in psychiatric rehabilitation. Needless to say it is the mental health clients themselves who live out the practical consequences of the next "best practice" in mental health. 8) A recent theory is that the best outcome for a mental health consumer is to live in out in the community on an independent basis. In a perfect world this makes a lot of sense. The sad reality, however, is that there will always be...

Why Canada's Mental Health System is Failing Its C: Why Canada's mental Heath System is Failing Its Cl... : "If you have been reading my previous blogs on teaching the seriously mentally ill you may remember that up until the last few months I was e..."

If you have been reading my previous blogs on teaching the seriously mentally ill you may remember that up until the last few months I was employed as a front line mental health worker in a psychiatric rehabilitation facility. In my opinion our present mental health system is failing miserably in meeting the needs of those persons with severe and persistent psychiatric disabilities. I know that there will be people working in the present mental health system who will disagree with my statements and be offended by what I am writing in my blogs. These persons especially administrators and policy makers are entitled to their own opinions just as I am entitled to mine. With this in mind I will write down what I think needs to be said. After thirteen years of working as a front line worker in the mental health field I have made several observations which I will share with you now. What follows is a list of these observations from my own experience and self initiated research: 1) The pres...