Thank you.
Good afternoon, Mr. Chair and committee members. My name is Dr. Karen Cohen. I'm the chief executive officer of the Canadian Psychological Association or CPA.
CPA is the national association of Canada's scientists and practitioners of psychology. Approximately 18,000 psychologists are registered to practise in Canada. This makes psychologists the largest regulated, specialized mental health care providers in the country.
Psychologists are employed by publicly funded institutions inclusive of hospitals, family health teams, and primary care practices, schools, universities, and correctional facilities. However, with cuts to human resources in the public sector, psychologists increasingly work in private practice.
Their scope of practice includes the assessment and diagnosis of mental disorders and cognitive functioning, the development and evaluation of treatment protocols and programs, the delivery and supervision of treatment, and research.
We are pleased that in the 2015 federal budget the Government of Canada indicated its intention to renew the Mental Health Commission's mandate for 10 years. CPA has a long history of involvement with the commission from providing support for its creation, sitting on advisory committees, and providing input on past and current projects. This new investment will hopefully give the commission a mandate to implement the recommendations of the mental health strategy. The strategy scoped out the changes that Canada needs to make to enhance the mental health and well-being of its citizens. It's now time to make change happen.
The strategy called for increased access to evidence-based psychotherapies by service providers qualified to deliver them. We hope that the commission will work with governments and other stakeholders to move this important recommendation forward.
Research has demonstrated that psychological treatments are effective for a wide range of mental health disorders such as depression, anxiety, eating disorders, and substance abuse. They are less expensive than, and at least as effective as, medication for a number of common mental health conditions. They work better than medication for some kinds of anxiety. They lead to less relapse of depression when compared to treatment with medication alone. They lead to patients who better follow through on treatment, feel less burdened by their illness, and have lower suicide rates when used with medication for bipolar disorder. They help to prevent relapse when included in the services and supports for persons living with schizophrenia. And, finally, they reduce depression and anxiety in people with heart disease, which when combined with medical treatment, leads to lower rates of heart-related deaths.
Despite this evidence, there are significant gaps in service and care when it comes to mental health. Canada has no parity in its public funding of mental and physical health care. Canada's mental health strategy tells us that spending on mental health in Canada has been measured at only 7% of total health spending. Psychological services are not covered by our public health insurance plans. Canadians either pay out of pocket or rely on the private health insurance plans provided by employers. Coverage through private plans is almost always too little for a clinically meaningful amount of service.
Erin Anderssen from The Globe and Mail hit the nail on the head this week when she wrote about this health crisis. She stated, “We have the evidence...Why aren't we providing evidence-based care?”
Access to treatment should not depend on your employment benefits or your income level. Those who cannot afford to pay for treatment end up on long wait lists, they have to depend on prescription medications, or they simply do not get help at all. If we want a health care system that will deliver cost and clinically effective care, then we must re-vision policies, programs, and funding structures through which health care is provided.
CPA commissioned a report by a group of health economists that proposed several models of delivering enhanced access to psychological services for Canadians. The report provides a business case for improved access to psychological services based on demonstrating positive return on investment and proposed service that yields desired outcomes. It looked at countries like the United Kingdom, Australia, the Netherlands, and Finland that have programs that make psychological services accessible through public health systems.
A 2012 report on the U.K.'s improving access to psychological therapies program says it has treated over 1.1 million people, with a recovery rate in excess of 45%. Some 45,000 people have moved off sick pay and benefits. Savings from the program in 2015 are estimated at £272 million for the National Health Service and £700 million for the entire public sector. By the end of 2016-17, the net financial benefit of the program is pegged at £4.6 billion and judged attributable to prevention, early intervention, and a reduction in absenteeism.
Mental disorders that are addressed promptly and effectively will yield a cost offset from their treatments. That can include fewer medical visits and interventions, and decreases in short- or long-term disability. On the other hand, untreated or undertreated disorders cost the workplace tens of billions of dollars annually.
Accessing needed psychological care affects people across their lifespan.
The May 2015 report from the Canadian Institute for Health Information showed that emergency room visits and hospitalization rates for children and youth with mental disorders have increased since 2006, particularly for those between the ages of 10 and 17 with mood and anxiety disorders. Use of psychotropic medications has increased as well. A 2011 report from the Canadian Policy Network and CIHI shows that the strongest evidence for return on investment in mental health involves services and supports that are geared to children and youth and that reduce conduct disorders and depression, deliver parenting skills, provide anti-bullying and anti-stigma education, promote health in schools, and provide screening in primary health care settings for depression and alcohol misuse.
Canada's population is aging and seniors will also face barriers to accessing necessary psychological care. While many of us will age in relatively good health, others will face a wide range of cognitive, emotional, and physical challenges that include dementia, depression, anxiety, chronic disease management, and end-of-life care. As many as 20% of seniors are living with a mental illness. Depression occurs in about 40% of patients who have had a stroke. Up to 44% of residents in long-term care homes have been diagnosed with depression and 80% to 90% have a mental illness or cognitive impairment.
Canada has taken some very important steps to improve the mental health of Canadians. Campaigns and public conversations deliver the message that Canadians can and should seek help for their mental health problems. Collectively, we are reducing the stigma of mental health and substance use disorders. However, only about one-third of Canadians seek and receive such help. While stigma may be one barrier, access to care is another.
It is time Canada walked the talk and made needed treatments and supports available. We need a health care system that is nimble enough to respond to the health needs of our citizens, deliver evidence-based care, and hold us accountable for care delivered. To accomplish these goals, innovation is needed.
The federal government has an important role to play in Canada's mental health. This role includes delivering care in jurisdictions under its authority, increasing or targeting mental health transfers to provinces and territories, and collaborating with provinces and territories in delivering effective innovations in health promotion, illness prevention, and health care delivery.
To ensure that innovations in mental health care delivery happen, the federal government can set up an innovation fund to assist provinces and territories in developing sustainable mental health infrastructure across Canada that will bring psychological care to Canadians who need it. The fund could, for example, be used by the provinces and territories to adapt the United Kingdom's improved access to psychological therapy programs here in Canada and to expand the role of primary health care in meeting mental health needs.
Finally, investment in research and training for students is also critical to the success of Canada's health system, the success of which will depend on its ability to effectively respond to the changing health needs of Canadians. While research into the biomedical causes and treatments of mental disorders is important, research into the psychosocial determinants and treatments is equally important. Like many more long-standing health conditions, mental disorders involve a complex interplay of biological, social, and psychological determinants and depend on a team of providers, services, and factors for their treatment and management.
Canada is poised to do better by the mental health of Canadians. The Canadian Psychological Association is very pleased to participate in this work.
Thank you for the opportunity to present to this committee