Thank you.
My name is Alison Freeland. I am a psychiatrist, and I am here in my capacity as chair of the board of directors of the Canadian Psychiatric Association and co-chair of the CPA's medical assistance in dying working group to provide you with the CPA's perspective. Thank you for the opportunity to be here today as you consider the degree of preparedness attained for a safe and adequate application of MAID for MD-SUMC.
As the national voice of Canada's psychiatrists and psychiatrists in training, the CPA's mission is to promote the highest quality of care and treatment for persons with mental illness and to advocate for the professional needs of our members by promoting excellence in education, research and clinical practice.
The CPA does not take a position on the legality or morality of MAID, nor has the CPA taken a position on whether MAID should be available where mental illness is the sole underlying medical condition. However, the CPA does believe that any legislation must protect the rights of all vulnerable Canadians without unduly stigmatizing and discriminating against those with mental disorders solely on the basis of their disability.
The CPA's primary contributions towards preparedness have focused on providing feedback and input on national standards and the training curriculum, facilitating member awareness and education on MAID and contributing to the literature regarding MAID. Through our working group, the CPA provided feedback on the MAID practice standard prior to its release last March. The CPA was also part of the national MAID curriculum steering committee, which supported and enabled the development of a training curriculum for assessors and providers that was released in September. In addition, several CPA members have been part of the CAMAP working groups that developed individual curriculum modules.
The CPA regularly informed members about the development of the practice standards and their contents as well as the curriculum through our weekly members newsletter. We continue to keep our members abreast of and facilitate relevant MAID training opportunities.
At our 2022 annual conference, we held a panel discussion for 140 participants that explored ethical considerations to guide MAID decisions, assessment of capacity and voluntariness, and suicide versus MAID. More recently, our annual conference last month included a plenary that discussed the need for a national MAID curriculum and outlined its development. More than 300 conference delegates participated in this session.
In conjunction with the conference, we also hosted a facilitated session of the MAID and mental disorders curriculum module for CPA members who are licensed clinicians. It's my understanding, from informal discussions with systems partners, that approximately 100 psychiatrists are now registered for the MAID curriculum. We continue to promote future educational opportunities for this training through our newsletter.
Our peer-reviewed journal, The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, has published a number of articles that seek to clarify aspects of MAID, including original research by van Veen and colleagues that establishes 13 consensus criteria for determining irremediability in the context of MAID in the Netherlands. While psychiatrists diagnose, treat and assess capacity in people with mental disorders on a daily basis, we will soon publish a paper on the capacity to consent in the context of MAID in The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, and this will offer further guidance to our psychiatrists. Our MAID working group continues to be active and will meet shortly to consider further topics where members would benefit from additional guidance.
The CPA also has some knowledge of health systems readiness gained through members of our working group as well as from our Council of Psychiatric Associations, which facilitates an exchange of information on issues of national importance by assembling the presidents of the various provincial psychiatric associations.
As a national member organization, our role is to listen to and dialogue with our members. While some psychiatrists do not support MAID, others are interested in learning more and will choose to be involved with MAID as consultants or assessors and possibly providers. Psychiatrists' expertise is important when it comes to MAID, but we do not practise in isolation. We work in interprofessional teams that centre the voice and lived experience of the patient and their family to balance treatment, care and hope for recovery with a capable person’s right to make health care decisions.
Thank you, and I would be happy to answer questions.