Health and Community Services
December 8, 2017
Department Hosts Canadian and International Health Care Experts for Best Brains Exchange
Recognized experts gathered in St. John’s yesterday to share knowledge about renewing mental health and addictions care in Newfoundland and Labrador. The Government of Newfoundland and Labrador is committed to transforming the mental health and addictions care system in this province as outlined in Towards Recovery. This vision is built on the principles of a stepped care approach. The value of such an approach is that it increases access to services by matching people to the appropriate level of care.
The Department of Health and Community Services in collaboration with the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and the Newfoundland and Labrador Centre for Applied Health Research hosted the Best Brains Exchange. An initiative of the CIHR, the Best Brains Exchanges are meetings that bring together key stakeholders, researchers, and policy and decision makers from across federal, provincial and territorial governments with local, national and international experts on topics that pose policy challenges. A list of presenters can be found in the backgrounder below.
The Government of Newfoundland and Labrador released Towards Recovery: The Mental Health and Addictions Action Plan for Newfoundland and Labrador in June 2017. It is one of many initiatives in The Way Forward: A Vision for Sustainability and Growth in Newfoundland and Labrador, which outlines the Provincial Government's overall approach to improving services and outcomes for residents, growing the economy, and achieving greater efficiencies. The first progress report on Towards Recovery will be provided in later this month.
Quote
“The Best Brains Exchange was an excellent opportunity to learn from experts about what works in stepped-care in other jurisdictions. Participants from community agencies, regional health authorities, MUN and the department gained much from this day-long symposium. They will use that shared knowledge in the transformation of mental health and addictions care policy and practice. Thank you to all who attended and presented.”
Honourable John Haggie
Minister of Health and Community Services
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Health and Community Services
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Backgrounder
Healthcare Experts Present on Stepped-Care in Mental Health and Addictions
Stephen Bornstein is a professor and is currently the Director of Newfoundland and Labrador Centre of Applied Health Research, Memorial University.
Thomas Ungar is the Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto and Psychiatrist-in-Chief at St. Michael’s Hospital.
David A. Richards is Professor of Mental Health Services Research and NIHR Senior Investigator at the University of Exeter Medical School, University of Exeter (England).
Jai Shah is a psychiatrist and researcher at the Program for Prevention and Early Intervention in Psychosis (PEPP-Montréal) at the Douglas Mental Health University Institute and McGill University.
Steve Mathias is a psychiatrist and medical manager at the Inner City Youth Program, St. Paul’s Hospital and is Clinical Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine at the University of British Columbia.
2017 12 08 2:05 p.m.