Madam Chair, one of the greatest challenges when it comes to caring for the mental health of Canadians is the significant barriers to accessing mental health services. Only one-third of those in need of mental health services will actually receive the help they need. We have psychological treatments that work and experts who are trained to deliver them. Because these services are not funded by provincial health insurance plans, and because private insurance offered by most plans is frequently too little to allow for meaningful service, Canadians cannot often access the services they need.
The cost of mental illness in Canada is estimated at $51 billion annually. In response to Canada's national mental health strategy, which called for increased access to evidence-based psychotherapies by service providers that are qualified to deliver them, the Canadian Psychological Association commissioned a report to look at how this can be achieved. It is our association's position that psychological assessments and treatments for all mental health problems, including eating disorders, are a necessary basic health service. As concerns eating disorders in particular, several of the models that were recommended in the report we commissioned are especially relevant.
First, Canada needs to integrate psychologists on primary care teams. Various estimates are that 30% to 60% of visits to family physicians and primary care are for, or related to, a mental health problem or disorder. With psychologists working or consulting with primary care, a youth or young adult who presents with an eating disorder will have access to the right care in the right place at the right time.
Patients with eating disorders are often ambivalent about seeking help, so their symptoms can be easily missed in a busy family practice. Having a mental health specialist like a psychologist in primary care settings can reduce these missed patients. Further, girls and women with mild eating disorder symptoms can be cared for by a specialist in a private office. This would reduce the burden on tertiary care centres and provide family physicians with specialists to whom they can refer a patient with an eating disorder.
Second would be to include or maintain psychologists on specialist care teams and secondary and tertiary care facilities for health and mental health conditions. Budget cuts to secondary and tertiary care centres in recent years have reduced the availability of psychological and other services to patients with eating disorders. Given the incidence and prevalence of mental disorders, particularly eating disorders, we need to maintain and augment our mental health resource within publicly funded health care institutions.
Third would be to provide sustained funding for community-based resource and support centres to help those who are recovering from an eating disorder. These centres currently receive little or no public funding and depend on a range of health care providers and services for their success.
Finally, Canada needs to expand private insurance coverage and promote employer support for psychological services. The best mental health return on investment is when services and supports are provided for children and youth. Most mental health disorders begin before young adulthood, and this, as we've heard, is especially true of eating disorders. Children, youth, and families need better access to needed psychological care, whether in a health facility, a primary care setting, or a community-based centre.
It is CPA's mandate and commitment since the commission of our 2013 report to speak with funders of care, and the organizations and agencies that deliver it, to create parity in how Canada takes care of the mental and physical health of its citizens.
Thank you.