NewsToGo
OPDI NewsToGo Issue #193 - August 8, 2008
1. A Very Exciting Announcement from the Board and Staff of OPDI
OPDI to train 200 Peer Supporters with $196,200 Ontario Trillium Foundation Grant
(Toronto, Ontario, August 8, 2008) – The Ontario Peer Development Initiative (OPDI) will train 200 Ontarians with the lived experience of mental health issues to assist others in their recovery, thanks to a $196,200 grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation (OTF). This two-year project will also develop a made-in-Ontario peer support training toolkit that can be shared with consumer/survivor initiatives (CSIs) across the province.
“I am pleased that OPDI has received a Trillium Foundation Grant for this important project”, said David Caplan, Minister of Health and Long-Term Care. “Our government is committed to improving the lives and health of all Ontarians and this innovative, made-in-Ontario initiative will help to better support those living with mental health issues.”
“In researched studies and pilot projects, peer support has saved many millions of dollars through shortened hospital stays and reduced readmissions, and has improved the lives of people with serious mental illness in many ways”, says Deborrah Sherman, Executive Director of OPDI. “Peer supporters assist individuals by reducing their social isolation, by modeling their own recovery, and by sharing their own successful coping skills to reduce symptom distress, navigate the mental health system, and deal with everyday life as well as mental health crises.”
While several CSIs in the province have initiated their own peer training courses and manuals, most have no consistent processes. Through this project OPDI will bring together the most effective good practices of all to create a train-the-trainer program all Ontario peer-run organizations can access.
“This is welcome and exciting news to our membership. We thank the Ontario Trillium Foundation for their recognition and investment in the value of peer supports led by mental health consumer/survivors”, says Joel Johnson, President of OPDI.
OPDI is a membership-based organization which represents some 50 of Ontario’s consumer/survivor initiatives and organizations that work within the mental health system.
The Ontario Trillium Foundation is an agency of the Government of Ontario. For 25 years, the Foundation has supported the growth and vitality of communities across the province. OTF continues to strengthen the capacity of the volunteer sector through investments in community-based initiatives. For more information, please visit http://www.trilliumfoundation.org
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For more information, please contact:
Deborrah Sherman, Executive Director
2. MH & A Partnership ER Strategy Brief Submitted to LHINs (update)
“Addressing Emergency Department Wait Times and Enhancing Access to Community Mental Health & Addictions Services and Supports” is a final draft of the joint submission that was submitted to former Minister of Health and Long-Term Care George Smitherman in May 2008. Consumer/survivors and stakeholder organizations will be interested in that peer support investments in warmlines and discharge planning figure among the five major recommendations for action. We have attached this for your information.
Addressing_ER_and_System_Navigation_for_MHA_july_2008.pdf
Subsequently, as the attached covering letter shows, this document has been forwarded to the LHINs.
The Partnership is made up of Addictions Ontario, CAMH, CMHA Ontario, Ontario Association of Patient Councils, the Ontario Federation of Community Mental Health and Addiction Programs, and OPDI.
3. Multi-Sectoral Service Accountability Agreement Survey (RSVP ASAP)
The LHINs have developed a draft Multi-Sectoral Service Accountability Agreement (M-SAA) that will apply to five sectors: Community Mental Health and Addictions; Community Health Centres; Community Support Services and CCACs. The M-SAA was developed utilizing the existing service agreements/service accountability agreements that were assigned by the MOHLTC to the LHINs as of April 1, 2007. The LHINs have established a Consultation Team for each sector to work with the LHIN Steering Committee and the field to ensure the process is well-communicated and that effective feedback is received. Over the next several weeks, the MH&A Consultation Team will be seeking your input on various matters and sharing with you relevant information about the process. The Federation website, CMHA Ontario, and Addictions Ontario websites will be all be used to ensure consistent and up-to-date information flow. Please check these sites regularly and look for e-mails about the process.
If you have not responded to this survey, you are encouraged to do so as soon as possible:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=eJsu0OBW_2bFz5hpCFQhJHRA_3d_3d
For those who did not have a chance to attend the July 10th webinar on M-SAA, it has been archived and is accessible at:
http://webcast.otn.ca/archives.html
This is the fourth item listed - (TSM 4616052 Local Health Integration Network Mental Health and Addiction Multi-Sectoral Service Accountability Agreement Live and Archived).
We have also attached the most recent copy of the M-SAA Template and a FAQ sheet for your reference.
4. Ontario Health Premium Legislative Hearings
The Ontario Health Premium was introduced in the 2004 provincial budget and by law, has to be reviewed after five years. Here’s a media report of the one-day committee hearing; we have first included a link to the budget page where the Health Premium is explained:
http://www.fin.gov.on.ca/english/media/2004/bk-ohp.html
http://www.healthzone.ca/health/article/472962
5. Globe and Mail “Breakdown” Series: Story on Peer Support
Here’s a perceptive account of how one person uses peer support to cope with her mental health diagnosis:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080801.mhsusan0208/CommentStory/mentalhealth/
6. Virtual Teleconferencing – A Sign of the Future?
Four hospitals in the Central East LHIN have partnered to develop videoconferencing capabilities that will allow for better access to children and youth psychiatry services:
http://newsdurhamregion.com/news/whitby/article/104155
7. Ontario Social Assistance Recipients – Two Different Stories
The first article refers to the employment supports that are being used to help people on Ontario Works find work. The second reflects a municipality’s perspective that the weakening economy will increase demand on OW and ODSP; while the province has committed to covering more of the costs, it is still a significant expense:
http://www.intelligencer.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1133347
http://www.northpeel.com/Brampton/Brampton/News/article/53856
8. PPAO Correspondence with Canada Post
NewsToGo recently reported on the laudable effort by Canada Post to sell a special stamp with an extra charge, with the money going towards its new charity. PPAO has forwarded some correspondence regarding the proposed stamp design which has been attached for your information.
9. MOHLTC “New Directions” Online Newsletter
You can read about ongoing changes within the Ministry by consulting back issues of their newsletter at:
http://www.health.gov.on.ca/english/providers/transition/newsletters.html
10. “Pathways to Housing” Op-Ed Article
The author, a family member, puts his perspective across on why providing housing first can be an effective gateway to successful intervening with mental health and addiction consumers:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jay-neugeboren/homeless-no-more-the-path_b_116399.html
11. Overview of Coffee – Benefits and Risks
This informative article includes an index of the caffeine level in common beverages along with latest research from the field:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/05/health/05brod.html?_r=1&ref=health&oref=slogin
12. Access to Psychotherapy Services Shrinking
This trend reported in the U.S. is due to medical insurance covering short visits (for drug prescriptions) to physicians but not for long psychotherapy sessions and also because newer medications have fewer reported side-effects:
13. Osgoode Hall Law School CE Certificate Program in MH Law
This year-long program covers six Friday sessions in downtown Toronto and features top-notch faculty members recognizable to stakeholders and front-line staff in the field. We have attached the link to the webpage:
http://www.osgoodepd.ca/cle/mental_health_law/index.html
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Thanks for reading!
The Staff of OPDI
NewsToGo is OPDI’s e-mail update providing timely and meaningful information to its stakeholders. The ideas expressed are those of the individual contributors and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of OPDI. We welcome your submissions; please direct them to . Preference will be given to material which directly relates to OPDI member affiliates and issues of concern to consumer/survivors throughout Ontario. We reserve the right to edit the length and style of all materials submitted. The current and back issues of NewsToGo can be found at http://www.opdi.org.
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