The Canada Health Act governs the Canadian healthcare department with an objective to promote, protect and restore both physical and mental well being of the Canadian people. The act is also mandated to ensure there is reasonable access to healthcare services to all Canadians despite their education, income levels, and cultural background. Over decades the Canada Health Act has developed health policy measures to ensure availability of medically necessary services across all provinces and territories 1 . Mental health is fundamentally recognized as an aspect of health but the current Canadian political culture and regime; it does not meet the eligibility to be medically necessary. Thus, mental healthcare still does not fall under the healthcare services referred to as “medically necessary’ hence patients carry the burden of mental health sickness.
In 2017, research by the Canada commission of mental health noted that there is about one person in every five that experience mental health challenges each year. The research further established that only one in three seek medical assistance or even report to medical facilities. A CBC report indicated that the stigma due to mental health costs Canadian employers over $20 billion a year 2 . Due to poor mental health policies and frameworks, access to mental health is challenging and has lead to lack of productivity and absenteeism among employees. With the increase of workforce mental illness across many industries, it is estimated that the Canadian economy loses over $50 Billion a year due to reducing employee productivity in the different sectors of the economy.
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The decentralized political culture leads to the lack of easy access to mental health services in Canada causing a call for reforms by policy experts and health care providers. Health care reforms targeted mental health services would relieve the Canadians from the high cost of mental health care services as well as the economy from losing out of low productivity. One major call of reform was the proposed creation of a government-funded federal plan to address historically neglected segment areas within the Canadian health care system 3 . Mental health section is one of the main neglected areas since it falls under the jurisdictions of provincial and territorial health legislation and not covered by the federal government.
The federal government was tasked to draft new mental health care policies that would bind all Canadians. The new policies would supersede the existing provincial and territorial mental health policies that are binding within specific areas only 4 . Being a federal body, the commission undertook studies on the extent of mental illness and noted that national legislation would facilitate constant access to mental health services in Canada hence bring about uniformity in experience to those experiencing mental challenges in different parts of Canada.
The federal government has taken significant steps to address the call for reforms in Mental Health. The mental health commission was created as a result of the “Out of the Shadows” report done in 2007 which seek government intervention to the increasing levels of mental illness in Canada 5 . The commission drafted the Canadian mental health strategy to move mental health from the shadow to be a forefront health concern in Canada. The commission further sensitized on the fact that there was no health without mental health.
The commission has also marshaled government funding and public support to ensure Canadians have access to the same high-quality treatment to mental illness despite their location or status. The commission has done various studies and established that mental health neglect in Canada has resulted in great consequence in the Canadians quality of life 6 . The low and income earners in Canada are the most affected hence contributing to the continued economic burden that reinforces the persistence of poverty. The commission in 2012 established that six main factors were barriers to the development of a federal mental health policy formulation and implementation. These factors were resource insufficiency, information barriers, resource timing, resource inflexibility, resource inappropriateness, and resource distribution.
Currently, considerable progress has been done, and there exists a federal policy on mental health that is fully operationalized through the Canadian Canada Health Act. The policy address and support mental resource availability and allocation to all provinces and territories. It also addresses the reduction of stigma in the community by providing mental health literacy. The Canadian healthcare department is involved in using research-based evidence to develop its intervention strategies further 7 . The mental health care budgets are prioritized by the government to ensure improved services for treatment of mental health. The Canadian healthcare department has collaborated with different stakeholders in building public-private alliances in the enhancement of mental health illness awareness and treatment.
In conclusion, the history for the development of mental health and addiction treatment policies in Canada borrows significantly from American and Europe models. It is evident that the federal government has instituted legislative policy guidelines in the Canadian Health Act to ensure all Canadian citizens have access to better mental health services and are treated for addiction in better environments 8 . The mental health reform policy guidelines highlight two main areas of support – mental illness and addiction treatment. These two areas have further been integrated and supported by the Canadian Health Act to provide responsible, comprehensive and compassionate treatment services. However, the concept of stigma is still rooted in the political culture of Canada hence the development of negative impacts during policy implementation.
There are a wide misconception and misunderstanding of individuals with mental problems and have often been labeled as lunatics, imbeciles or idiots by society 9 . In some culture, mental illness is associated with personal weakness as an individual. Some provincial and territorial government policies also stigmatize the mentally ill and people suffering from addiction by prohibiting them in public places. Thus to indicate despite the developed policy models of care, and policies, due to the existing Canadian political culture, there persist negative stigma among the mental challenges and those suffering from addiction.
Bibliography
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Fleury, Marie-Josée, Guy Grenier, Catherine Vallée, Denise Aubé, Lambert Farand, Jean-Marie Bamvita, and Geneviève Cyr. "Implementation of the Quebec mental health reform (2005–2015)." BMC health services research 16, no. 1 (2016): 586.
Imtiaz, Sameer, Kevin D. Shield, Michael Roerecke, Joyce Cheng, Svetlana Popova, Paul Kurdyak, Benedikt Fischer, and Jürgen Rehm. "The burden of disease attributable to cannabis use in Canada in 2012." Addiction 111, no. 4 (2016): 653-662.
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Khoury, Emmanuelle, and Lourdes Rodriguez del Barrio. "Recovery-oriented mental health practice: A social work perspective." British Journal of Social Work 45, no. suppl_1 (2015): i27-i44.
1 Tara, K, Kopp, A and Richard H. Glazier, R. "Those left behind from voluntary medical home reforms in Ontario, Canada." P. 517
2 Marie-Josée,F et al., "Implementation of the Quebec mental health reform (2005–2015). p. 586.
3 Emmanuelle, K and Rodriguez del Barrio, L. "Recovery-oriented mental health practice: A social work perspective." i27.
4 Sameer, I et al., "The burden of disease attributable to cannabis use in Canada in 2012." p . 653.
5 Mary, B. "Making the most of the federal investment of $5 billion for mental health. p.E1360.
6 Marie-Josée,F et al., "Implementation of the Quebec mental health reform (2005–2015). p. 586.
7 Sameer, I et al., "The burden of disease attributable to cannabis use in Canada in 2012." p . 653
8 Emmanuelle, K and Rodriguez del Barrio, L. "Recovery-oriented mental health practice: A social work perspective." i27.
9 Tara, K, Kopp, A and Richard H. Glazier, R. "Those left behind from voluntary medical home reforms in Ontario, Canada." P. 517
