Panelist Mae Burrows, from From Grief to Action, spoke to Vancouver Community MH&A staff and clinicians this week from the parents’ perspective as a mother whose son battles an addiction.

First-ever MH&A Education Day celebrates integration and collaboration

Over the past two years, VCH Vancouver Community has been moving to align mental health with addiction services.

This week, service integration and collaboration were celebrated in an education session that highlighted the strength of the new system, praised staff for having a collective hand in its creation, and provided a forum in which some tough questions were asked.

It was the first time ever that both mental health AND addiction staff have come together to learn from each other’s experiences.

Program highlights

The day-long MH&A program kicked-off with a key note presentation on Reciprocity and Mentorship by, Ross Laird, followed by panel discussion which focused on the theme, “What do you think about where we’re at right now?” The panel discussion was followed by seven 20-minute talks, developed by MH&A staff, that focused on an element of treatment and care. Topics included:

  • Understanding Trauma Responses and Reactions – Brian O’Rourke
  • Hoarding – Diane Cook
  • Safer Relationships, Safe Children – Sonja Sinclair
  • Cognitive Rehabilitation in Community Mental Health – Kathy Wong and Carolyn Desmarais
  • The Roles of Peers in Harm Reduction and Service Delivery and as Consumers of VCH Services – Sara Young and Alex Scott
  • Staying Motivated using Motivational Interviewing Strategies for Implementation – Dr. Heather Fuller
  • Older Adult MH&A:  Staff Working Together to Improve Client Care – Cambie OA (West End)

Notable quotes

The following are a few notable quotes from the panel discussion:  “What do you think about where we’re at right now?”

“We don’t have an epidemic of mental illness, we have an epidemic of untreated mental illness.”

–         Kerry Porth, mental health consumer and advocate, former addict and sex trade worker, who spoke from experience to the need for more flexible and nimble services on the DTES and across Vancouver. 

“I am what a heroin addict’s mom looks like.”

–          Mae Burrows, family voice, From Grief to Action, who spoke to the importance of family involvement in a client’s treatment and recovery in a system where it’s not uncommon to exclude family for reasons of client confidentiality.

 “I don’t think that group therapy is for everyone and I don’t think that one-on-one is for everyone. But I do think there’s room for everyone within those two modalities.

–          JP Grimard, clinical supervisor, South MH&A team, who spoke to the need of eclecticism of treatment in what Vancouver Community offers in terms of MH&A programming.

What you had to say

More than 400 MH&A staff attended the event which ran on two consecutive days to allow for full program participation. Here’s a sampling of feedback from the day-long event.

“This was actually wonderful. I expected another boring yap session but I actually felt more inclusion that I have in years at VCH. The ideas put forward gave me renewed hope and passion for my work. I think having this annually would do wonders for staff morale.”

“Finally, MHA brought together WITH leadership. Thank you. Enough top down management.”

“Inspires integration and more collaboration.”

“I thought all of it worked. The diversity, the humanity and individual responsibility shone through all of the presentations.”