#PARADIGM SHIFT EXAMPLES IN SOCIETY FULL#

Psychological services are predominantly in the private system, which has a large workforce of trained psychologists, social workers and counselors readily available, either through employment plans or paid out of pocket (up to $200 a session) – a barrier that makes treatment inaccessible for many and is particularly worrisome as people living with mental-health conditions have lower earning potential and socio-economic status (both as risk factors and as consequences of their illnesses).

#PARADIGM SHIFT EXAMPLES IN SOCIETY FULL#

Jenkins calls for “a paradigm shift … where we work along the full spectrum from mental-health promotion through prevention to treatment and recovery, and (do) not rely on having to get to the point of crisis before people can try to access the care that they need.” “And then all of the people who aren’t able to access that kind of care – which is probably most people – are not getting what they need.” “People come in and out of the system because they’re not being served by that singular approach,” she says. “Having worked as a nurse in acute psychiatry settings for several years, I know that our response is to have people at the point of suicidality or an acute psychosis in order to receive care,” says Emily Jenkins, assistant professor of nursing at the University of British Columbia, who recently collaborated with the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) to study the mental-health impacts of COVID-19 in Canada. The current system also weighs heavily on acute crisis intervention and away from prevention and health promotion. The biological components are typically funded in the health-care system – doctors, hospital stays and medications (covered for those with low-household income) – but the equally important psychological and social components are frequently left to individuals to attain privately or for society to fight for politically.

The causes and treatments for mental-health conditions are complex. Now, COVID-19 has turned that crisis into a catastrophe, with 50 per cent of Canadians reporting worsening mental health during the pandemic. Įven before the pandemic, 20 per cent of Canadians experienced a mental-health issue each year and 85 per cent of Canadians agreed that mental health was among the most underfunded services in health care. The United Kingdom and Australia are among the countries that cover psychological services in their public systems, with well-documented effectiveness.

It’s not that the public system can’t afford to cover such services, it’s that we can’t afford not to, according to Canadian researchers who have calculated that each $1 invested in psychological services yields a net benefit of $2 savings to society. While there is no health without mental health, provincial governments in Canada still cover only half of treatments for mental-health conditions – paying for doctors and hospitalizations but rarely for psychotherapists and psychological services.

Paradigm shift examples in society