Treating causes, not just symptoms
Many mental health and addictions problems and crises are exasperated or caused by social factors. We cannot deal with the mental health crisis in this province without also dealing with poverty, racism, trauma, colonialism, incarceration and the lack of secure and affordable housing. A mental health strategy that does not deal with social and economic factors is strategy which is destined to fail.
Mental healthcare should be universal, public and free
Nova Scotia’s mental health care system is a patch work of private and public providers, often working in isolation. We need a mental health care system which is fully integrated into our public health care system so that when someone needs to see a mental health professional or access medication they are able to do so with their health card, without paying fees or relying on private insurance. Mental health services must be available in every community and accessible without long wait times. This means introducing a national, universal pharmacare program and training and hiring more psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers and counsellors and ending our reliance on the private, for-profit system.
Evidence-based harm reduction and addictions care
Nova Scotia has been battling an addictions crisis for decades. The province must follow the evidence and provide publicly administered addictions treatment without costs to the patient, embrace harm-reduction strategies to keep people alive and involve people who use drugs in the design and implementation of programs.
Resources to learn more
A short summary of the limits of Nova Scotia’s over-reliance on a medical model of mental health and why an intersectional approach that prioritizes the root causes is necessary, by Alec Stratford of the Nova Scotia College of Social Workers
Access to publicly-funded psychotherapy is an essential step toward true universal health care from the Mental Health Commission of Canada.
Comprehensive harm reduction services for marginalized and at-risk populations are essential to Canada’s COVID-19 Recovery Plan by Matthew Bonn et al.