Gallant government urged to improve mental health care

The man with an adult son diagnosed withschizophreniaplans to pressure the Gallant government to act quickly on the recommendations in a new report aimed at improving mental health care in New Brunswick.

Albert Cyr, a retired psychologist,led the provincial mental health forum in October that produced the new report and its 25 recommendations and wants quick action.

The recommendations addressfive themes: demystifying mental health,legal framework,cultural issues, populations at risk and stigmatization,and intervention settings.

The recommendations include:

• Developing a mental health and addiction plan for First Nations.
• Giving people with mental health issues priority in obtaining housing.
• Encouraging greater participation of parents and families of people suffering from mental illness.
• Allowing people to check themselves into the hospital, even if they aren't suicidal.

Cyr said previous attempts in recent years to improve mental health servicesdidn't work then because there was not enough follow up.

Cyrsaid the mental health forum's organizing committee plans to keep pressure on the Gallant government to act quickly on the latest recommendations.

"So we are going to go with them to ensure that it moves further and quickly and there is an indication of that," he said.

In order to make sure the committee is vigilant in monitoring improvements to the mental health system, one of the first items on the agenda is to schedule another forum.

First-hand experience

Cyr, who isalso the chair ofVitalitHealth Network's mental health advisory committee,said it was his experience as a parent of a child with mental illness that inspired him to get involved.

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His son was diagnosed with schizophrenia at the age of 16.

"My experience as a parent was very revealing for me," he said.

"I could not just sit back and ignore,knowing what I knew, because of my background as a professional mental health psychologist because I was witnessing my son deteriorating."

Some changes implemented

Since last October's forum in Moncton,some of the recommended changes are in the process of being implemented.

JillLeBlanc-Farquharson, theregional director of mental health and addiction services for Horizon Health, pointed to some of the changes.

"The way we offer services, extended hours of operation, our mobile crisis team now travels with the RCMP, avoiding several ER visits," she said.

"So that really surrounded the whole area of respect."

LeBlanc-Farquharson said recommendations that are more systemic or require funding will be more challenging to implement in a timely manner.

The members of the forum did not create a specific timelines for when they'd like to see the recommendations implemented.

LeBlanc-Farquharson did say the community advisory committee is very active and will make sure the provincial issues relative to mental health are dealt with in time.

Reports calling for change in mental health services in New Brunswick are not new.

In 2009, provincial court Judge Michael McKee, who led a task force into improving mental health services, released 80 recommendations calling for drastic changes to the New Brunswick's mental health care system.

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The health minister at the time, Michael Murphy, reviewed the recommendations, but said the province would not be able to follow through on all of them.

In 2011, the province launched a seven-year plan for mental health. But in 2013, McKee expressed concerns that improvements were not happening quickly enough and people were unable to receive timely care.