The Provision of Care
Peace of Mind released a report written by Faiz Jan and Kirsten Kelly documenting the need, cost and other considerations for improving the state of mental healthcare for students in the Province of Ontario. The report settled on 6 main policies in need of implementation:
1. Providing all students access to at least 26 sessions of Cognitive/Dialectical Behavioural or Psychodynamic Therapy annually;
2. Providing 1 annual mental health check-in provided by a registered therapist to every student;
3. Legally prohibiting the discrimination of an individual for the purposes of employment, social opportunities or registration in schooling due to previous efforts to access mental healthcare of any form;
4. Adding a full section of the elementary/middle school health curriculum dedicated solely to the topic of understanding mental health, illness and neurodiversity to reduce stigma and create awareness of supports;
5. Developing and enforcing training for peace officers, teachers and healthcare professionals in cooperation with mental health experts to teach how to identify mental illness, those at risk of mental illness and how to effectively help citizens overcome barriers to mental wellness;
6. Mandating professional mental healthcare workers take and succeed in training for culturally responsive summary.
1. Providing all students access to at least 26 sessions of Cognitive/Dialectical Behavioural or Psychodynamic Therapy annually;
2. Providing 1 annual mental health check-in provided by a registered therapist to every student;
3. Legally prohibiting the discrimination of an individual for the purposes of employment, social opportunities or registration in schooling due to previous efforts to access mental healthcare of any form;
4. Adding a full section of the elementary/middle school health curriculum dedicated solely to the topic of understanding mental health, illness and neurodiversity to reduce stigma and create awareness of supports;
5. Developing and enforcing training for peace officers, teachers and healthcare professionals in cooperation with mental health experts to teach how to identify mental illness, those at risk of mental illness and how to effectively help citizens overcome barriers to mental wellness;
6. Mandating professional mental healthcare workers take and succeed in training for culturally responsive summary.
Economic CostThe epidemic of mental illness and barriers to mental wellness is so large that the provision of universal student therapy would save the province of Ontario upwards of $1 billion in direct budgetary impacts after just 11 years. |
Physical CostEven before the pandemic, upwards of 28,000 children were in wait lines to receive mental health care, some are forced to stay on lists for more than 4 years. The result of this, every day, roughly 11 Canadians commit suicide and 47,000 Canadians die every year as a result of substance abuse. |
Social Cost42% of Canadians are unsure about whether or not they would socialize with someone with mental illness and 27% of Canadians report they are outright fearful of people with mental illness. In turn, higher rates of unemployment, poverty and depression. |
Program CostingAs a part of the Provision of Care Report, Peace of Mind conducted a costing and economic savings analysis of the recommended Secondary School In-House Program, along with a costing of alternatives that included the provision of insurance for secondary students and an expansion of existing mental health supports provided by local school boards. The results of these cost and savings analysis are demonstrated in the charts here.
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The Equal Access Initiative
In an effort to promote the policy recommendations from the Provision of Care Report among other data backed policy proposals, various organizations including the Ontario Student-Trustees Association, the Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance, and the Young Canadians Roundtable on Health have partnered together to lobby the relevant governments to take action. The White Paper can be read in it's entirety here.