Ms. Mathyssen.
Evidence of meeting #42 for Veterans Affairs in the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was brain.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Evidence of meeting #42 for Veterans Affairs in the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was brain.
A recording is available from Parliament.
4:25 p.m.
NDP
Irene Mathyssen NDP London—Fanshawe, ON
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you for this incredible testimony. It's very helpful and I appreciate it very much. I want to ask everyone many questions. I'll see if I can be orderly and make sense of it all.
I'll start with you, Ms. Bradley and Mr. Mantler.
How does your program target a veteran's family? What kind of supports do you provide for spouses or children?
4:25 p.m.
President and Chief Executive Officer, Mental Health Commission of Canada
Are you referring to the community approach we were talking about, or is it mental health first aid and R2MR?
4:25 p.m.
President and Chief Executive Officer, Mental Health Commission of Canada
Okay.
There are four different priorities that would be implemented in each of the communities. Families are very much included in that. They're a vital part of the approach and so are definitely very much included in that.
With regard to mental health first aid, that's available to....
4:25 p.m.
Vice-President, Programs and Priorities, Mental Health Commission of Canada
The mental health first aid version for veterans first and foremost was designed with veterans and their families at the table. There was very direct input from those groups into what was needed. It's designed in a way that's intended for veterans themselves as well as for their families and caregivers.
4:25 p.m.
NDP
Irene Mathyssen NDP London—Fanshawe, ON
Thank you.
Ms. Bradley, you said that you were on the minister's advisory committee. How many women are there, and how many of those women are veterans so that they can understand or at least communicate that perspective?
Do you have any programs that have been developed specifically for those living with military sexual trauma?
4:25 p.m.
President and Chief Executive Officer, Mental Health Commission of Canada
I don't believe there are any female veterans on the committee. There are none. They are male veterans.
What was your second question?
4:25 p.m.
NDP
Irene Mathyssen NDP London—Fanshawe, ON
It was on programming for those living with military sexual trauma.
4:25 p.m.
President and Chief Executive Officer, Mental Health Commission of Canada
In any of the meetings I've attended, and I believe the same is true for Ed, that has not been a focus of discussion.
4:25 p.m.
NDP
Irene Mathyssen NDP London—Fanshawe, ON
Thank you. I appreciate that. It's come up at this committee, and it's a very real and profoundly concerning reality for all of us.
Dr. Merali, you talked about the need for a centre of excellence. I have to tell you that this is something that my party, my colleagues, have asked for over and over again.
What kind of response are you getting from VAC in regard to that proposal? I'm thinking specifically of your call for research funding. In the information you presented, and in Dr. Thirlwell's research as well, I can see the correlation there, and it is fascinating in terms of what it reveals about what more needs to be done, and it's exciting in that it suggests that there is a great deal we can do to reduce these catastrophic suicides.
4:30 p.m.
President and Chief Executive Officer, The Royal's Institute of Mental Health Research, Royal Ottawa Health Care Group
Thank you.
I'm very delighted that you picked up on this, because I think we need to invest in research like that. I think there needs to be a centre of excellence, because this is a very important issue and it's not going to resolve itself if you don't pay attention to it.
Just recently I finished writing a paper—it's under submission right now—that talks about the investment in mental health research in Canada. To paraphrase the title, what if mental health were cancer?
I was trying to draw the analogy between the progress made in cancer due to the investments made in that field versus those in mental health. I'm sorry to say that we have less than 16% of the funding that would normally go to cancer, prorated, for mental health, despite the fact that the burden of illness is number one. I think that these areas—and post-traumatic stress disorder is one such condition—really need focused care and attention. I think having a centre of excellence would serve not only people who have served in theatre before but also people in the other walks of Canadian life, such as first responders and people who suffer from traumatic events, because the underlying mechanisms might be very similar and the treatments might be very similar.
We need to have a concerted, focused, and central place where the mission is to solve this issue and to find more effective solutions, which are few and far between right now.
4:30 p.m.
NDP
Irene Mathyssen NDP London—Fanshawe, ON
It's extremely interesting and compelling, inasmuch as I think Roy Romanow was right when he said that mental health was the orphan of the health care system. There is so much need in that regard. It would seem that this research you're talking about has, as you say, implications for the broader community. We know that mental health issues are profound and significant in the general population as well, and very few ever get treatment.
How am I doing for time, Mr. Chair?
4:30 p.m.
NDP
Irene Mathyssen NDP London—Fanshawe, ON
All right.
It's my understanding that in order to be served in an OSI clinic, a veteran must be referred by his or her caseworker. How long is the delay between reaching out to the caseworker and getting in to see someone at the clinic, specifically a doctor, so that help is received?
4:30 p.m.
Director, Operational Stress Injury Clinic, Royal Ottawa Health Care Group
At our clinic by the time we get the referral to the time the assessment's done is about six weeks. The referral comes to the clinic, not specific clinicians within it. We operate as an interdisciplinary team.
4:30 p.m.
NDP
Irene Mathyssen NDP London—Fanshawe, ON
Okay. I appreciate that answer. I guess the concern is that suicidal thoughts are a crisis, and six weeks is not a good response.
4:30 p.m.
Director, Operational Stress Injury Clinic, Royal Ottawa Health Care Group
They're contacted within 48 hours of receiving their referral. We do a triage and then they're contacted weekly by one of our nurses...for a wait-list management strategy we've put in place. We have contact with them and we're assessing them. We're also assessing their outcome monitoring on CROMIS, which I believe the committee has heard about before.
4:30 p.m.
NDP
Irene Mathyssen NDP London—Fanshawe, ON
Okay. So the triage involves active monitoring, because I worry about that time lag?
4:30 p.m.
Director, Operational Stress Injury Clinic, Royal Ottawa Health Care Group
Yes, there is the assessment.
February 13th, 2017 / 4:30 p.m.
Liberal
David Graham Liberal Laurentides—Labelle, QC
The topic I want to cover might require a bit of a game of Whac-A-Mole.
I'll start with Dr. Merali. You are a doctor, or not?
4:30 p.m.
President and Chief Executive Officer, The Royal's Institute of Mental Health Research, Royal Ottawa Health Care Group
Yes, I am a doctor.
4:30 p.m.
Liberal
David Graham Liberal Laurentides—Labelle, QC
Okay.
I found this very interesting. This is the chart that we saw on the presentation on brain scans. I don't know how to read this; I think most of us here don't. It looks very impressive, but I wonder if you could explain what we're actually seeing on this chart.