Go ahead, Bob.
Evidence of meeting #5 for National Defence in the 41st Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was therapists.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Evidence of meeting #5 for National Defence in the 41st Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was therapists.
A recording is available from Parliament.
9:20 a.m.
Director, Calabogie Adaptive Snowsports, National Capital Division, Canadian Association for Disabled Skiing
Go ahead, Bob.
9:20 a.m.
Operations Director, Calabogie Adaptive Snowsports, National Capital Division, Canadian Association for Disabled Skiing
Cheryl, could you ask that question about getting the notice to them again, please, so that I have it clear?
9:20 a.m.
Conservative
Cheryl Gallant Conservative Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, ON
Some soldiers only get a day's notice before their vacation commences, though they put in the request months in advance. How does that work into their being able to participate?
9:25 a.m.
Operations Director, Calabogie Adaptive Snowsports, National Capital Division, Canadian Association for Disabled Skiing
What happens, if you're part of Soldier On and are part of their event, is that they go to the commanding officer and are granted that whole week with pay to come to the winter sports clinic. However, if they come through us, they can go to their commanding officer, but they may not get an official leave. Then they have to take a week of their holidays to be able to participate.
9:25 a.m.
Conservative
Cheryl Gallant Conservative Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, ON
Is it just soldiers that your organization serves, or do you serve other amputees?
9:25 a.m.
Operations Director, Calabogie Adaptive Snowsports, National Capital Division, Canadian Association for Disabled Skiing
For this event, it's soldiers and veterans.
9:25 a.m.
Conservative
9:25 a.m.
Operations Director, Calabogie Adaptive Snowsports, National Capital Division, Canadian Association for Disabled Skiing
When we have a soldier who goes off to war and he's gone for 18 months and comes back with no legs, we feel that maybe there's a bit of trauma there for the spouse and the children getting their father back.
What we have tried to do is to invite the spouse to also partake in that whole week. If the spouse is able-bodied and can learn to ski, we put her in a ski program for the week. We teach the soldier to sit in a sit ski and ski from the top. Then on the Thursday morning, they ski together down the mountain, and they smile. You see the smiles, that they can do something together again.
We feel it's extremely important. And in the United States they do exactly the same thing.
9:25 a.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Peter Kent
Thank you, Mr. Gilmour.
Thank you, Ms. Gallant.
The next questioner is Mr. Harris.
9:25 a.m.
NDP
Jack Harris NDP St. John's East, NL
Thank you all for your most interesting presentations.
Given that there are only seven minutes, I'd like to focus a bit on the occupational therapy side of things. It's enlightening to know that your profession actually came out of war experience.
Is there a role for occupational therapists beyond the therapeutic role? I will go back to a conversation I had with one of your national presidents, I think a year or two ago. He talked about OTs as potentially involved in assessments and designing programs, or participating in a holistic assessment of what this person may need.
Are assessments a part of your role as well?
9:25 a.m.
Professional Affairs Executive, Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists
Absolutely.
We cover the gamut. We work with individuals to assess their specific needs and engage in an action plan and review how that's working. We change things along the way if we need to. But we certainly also work with organizations to shape and develop rehabilitation programs.
The other role that we fill in many areas is as case managers, to oversee the whole process with individuals.
I hope that answers your question.
9:25 a.m.
NDP
9:25 a.m.
Professional Affairs Executive, Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists
No, they are not.
We have one occupational therapist on staff in Valcartier and a contract occupational therapist in Edmonton.
9:25 a.m.
Professional Affairs Executive, Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists
Yes.
9:25 a.m.
NDP
Jack Harris NDP St. John's East, NL
You have what you call a proposal. You're making a proposal, which sounds like a formal proposal.
Is this a suggestion, or is this a proposal that you put together and presented to the Canadian Armed Forces? Or are you telling us that you would like to do that?
9:25 a.m.
Professional Affairs Executive, Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists
That's something we would like to do. We are in communication with staff at the Department of National Defence. We haven't discussed this particular plan. We are meeting next week at the MVHR conference.
What we would like to do is to help capacity building with occupational therapy. As you can imagine, you don't appoint a pediatrician to do a neurologist's job. It's a very specific area of practice. When occupational therapists are working within National Defence, they need specific skills to be able to deliver that service. It's a whole different culture, if you like. Picking up an occupational therapist off the street isn't quite the same as having somebody who is experienced and knowledgeable about the needs of military personnel.
That's where we feel we have a role, to help develop that capacity.
9:25 a.m.
NDP
Jack Harris NDP St. John's East, NL
Is there something from this committee...?
If we're hearing from people like you making recommendations, at the end of the day do you feel this committee could or should make a recommendation with respect to the use of OTs?
9:25 a.m.
Professional Affairs Executive, Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists
Yes.
In 2008, it was recommended that six occupational therapists be appointed across the country. My understanding is that we have two occupational therapists. With the announcement of mental health funding, there was to be an appointment of six occupational therapists to help with mental health conditions. We would certainly like to see those positions appointed.
We know that occupational therapy is cost effective. I heard recently that the one occupational therapist at Valcartier, who was working on return to work initiatives, has a success rate of return to employment that is twice as high as other rehabilitation facilities across the country.
9:30 a.m.
NDP
Jack Harris NDP St. John's East, NL
We've all heard stories of the soldier who doesn't come out of his basement or his bedroom. I've met spouses of people like that, and I'm sure others have as well. It's rewarding to hear that your profession is able to give hope to people in that situation, so thank you for bringing this to our attention.
It's interesting to know that your contribution as a group started as being the ones who helped soldiers to get back to normal after the kinds of deployments they've had. I just want to thank you for your presentation and for opening at least my eyes to some of the things you can offer to soldiers who are injured mentally and physically. Thank you very much for your presentation.
9:30 a.m.
Conservative
Rick Norlock Conservative Northumberland—Quinte West, ON
Thank you, Mr. Chair, and through you to the witnesses, thank you for appearing today.
I think I'll start with Mr. Ferdinand and the Canadian Mental Health Association. You did mention, of course, things that weren't necessarily related to the military, especially surrounding mental health services and the finding of individuals who are qualified to assist, in that area, the men and women in uniform. I have sat on another committee where the government does provide mental health workers, in particular, in our prisons. One of the things we find, and you can verify this or not, is that there is a lack of professionals in that area who wish to work in a field where it's basically the same work every day. Not every mental health worker wants to work in a prison facility or perhaps any other. As a society, we have a shortage of people who are qualified to do those things.
Would I be correct there?
9:30 a.m.
National Director, Public Policy, Canadian Mental Health Association
I think I could extend your statement to apply to more than just people who may not work within prisons, for example. I think the challenge is not just about the numbers or the interest; it's also with regard to curriculum, for example, in different types of schools.
I think nurses and doctors have come a long way over the last several decades, just as an example. There is a good example of a group of professions that have integrated into their curriculum at the university level collaborative and shared care with regard to mental health issues, co-occurring disorders, physical ailments as well as mental health issues, and when to treat the person's mental health issue versus the physical health issues.
There are now guidelines, so we have great examples of certain professions that have done great jobs. Occupational therapists have been doing it for 100 years, we heard today. So I think we have really great examples, such as social workers, psychologists, psychiatrists, where that integration is happening. The challenge is that when people structure programs in our health and social systems today, we tend to focus on acute or serious issues more so than prevention or health promotion. That is really the area, I think, the Canadian Mental Health Association is working in, how you help someone cope and develop strategies to get on a path to recovery.
9:30 a.m.
Conservative
Rick Norlock Conservative Northumberland—Quinte West, ON
Having only seven minutes to ask questions, I'll ask you to, as best you can, be succinct in responses.
Do you believe that in most cases crime prevention and health prevention are usually the cheapest route? How do you prepare a soldier for a situation where they probably will be exposed to things that most people aren't? I'm referring specifically to PTSD, which is probably one of the most difficult, I understand, to treat because of the different forms. Is there a way we can better prepare our Canadian Armed Forces personnel for exposures to those types of situations so that we don't have the numbers of people suffering that we do?
9:35 a.m.
National Director, Public Policy, Canadian Mental Health Association
I might refer the committee to some good work that has been published by an organization called Klinic, in Manitoba, with regard to trauma-informed care. One of the features of trauma is that it's unexpected. So when you ask the question about whether or not we can prepare people to deal with certain types of trauma, we have to recognize that it's not always possible. In other words, when people experience trauma, just under 10% of people will have a very serious impact on their lives to the point where they can't cope with daily living. Then there are others who will have other types of reactions.
I think the bottom line is that in any of these situations we need to deal with the person as a whole person when they present to anyone—a health professional, a chaplin, etc.—and talk to them in a way that's trauma-informed.
That is a very challenging question you asked.