Fixing the deficiencies in our mental health programs

Canada needs better mental health care for prisoners, employees, and the elderly, say the op-ed pages.

The stigma surrounding mental illness is increasingly less powerful. But that doesn't mean afflicted Canadians are getting the help they need. Today the editors at three major papers weigh in on different aspects of mental health services that can still be improved.

A Toronto Star editorial focuses on mental illness among Canada’s prison population. “Despite launching its ‘mental health strategy’ six years ago, the Correctional Service of Canada still cannot produce an official document that outlines standards to meet,” it says. The need is urgent, because “an increasing portion of Canada’s prison population has a mental health disorder (and prisoners’) suicide rate is already more than seven times the Canadian average.” The prison system “has shown that it has no trouble locking up mentally ill offenders and keeping some in solitary confinement for months on end. It is time to put as much effort into the other half of the job: ensuring that those offenders receive the health services they need.”

The Globe and Mail reflects on “a sea change of late in Canadian business… (A)fter years in which companies mostly paid lip service to mental-health issues,” corporations are beginning to invest in the mental health of their employees. The recent launch of mental health initiatives by several major companies is evidence that this is “not a pet cause, but an investment based on sound business principles.” After all, writes the Globe “(m)aintaining a healthy work force is a matter of corporate self-interest.”

A Sun Media editorialsounds the warning on “the alarming rise in dementia” that will accompany our aging population. “The Alzheimer Society of Canada insists national strategies must be developed before the storm hits,” and yet “we're not close to being ready. And nor have our health systems been reorganized to meet the needs of patients who will soon be wheeled through the doors in vast numbers.” Meanwhile, the Globe reports that the same Montessori method used to teach children might be the key to delaying the progress of Alzheimer’s in the elderly.