Mental health summit called fruitful
The Yukon government says it’s pleased with the interest its mental health summit attracted earlier this week.
The Yukon government says it’s pleased with the interest its mental health summit attracted earlier this week.
According to government representatives, more than 550 participants tuned into phase one of the Mental Wellness Summit, hosted virtually on Monday and Tuesday.
“We know that many Yukoners are struggling with mental health and substance use issues, and by coming together as a community, we are working to find solutions that will help ensure every Yukoner can access they support they need when they need it,” Health and Social Services Minister Tracy-Anne McPhee said Wednesday.
“I am encouraged to see so many Yukoners participate in the first phase of the Mental Wellness Summit, who came to learn and participate in open discussions on these important topics.
“By talking about the issues we face as a territory, we are helping people see substance use, mental health challenges and suicide through a lens of compassion and without the fear of judgment.
“The perspectives we heard at the summit will help guide our next Opioid Action Plan and help us improve the mental wellness of all Yukoners,” said McPhee, who declared a territory-wide substance use emergency on Jan. 20.
“As we heard, there is no magic solution to substance use and mental health challenges, but we do know that we need to continue to work together to address these challenges and improve the health of our communities.”
The most attended sessions covered Indigenous-led approaches to healing, reconciliation and cultural considerations in mental health and the impact of culture-based interventions.
The new Opioid Action Plan will be released later this year and build on the territory’s first action plan released in 2018.
Subsequent phases of the summit will include focus groups in the spring, followed by an in-person event once people can gather safely again.
The summit is part of the government’s response to the emergency declaration and is one of many initiatives underway to advance harm reduction initiatives, co-ordinate actions and respond to the emergency.
Comments (13)
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Mitch Holder on Mar 21, 2022 at 4:25 pm
Anon said it best and corrected Max mistakes to be sure. You can either invest in mental health or more police and more body bags, take your pick (we all know what they will pick).
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Anon on Feb 23, 2022 at 3:58 pm
@MaxPiped
One GIANT correction regarding Many Rivers: "they" didn't get creative with the paperwork, the ED did while management got nice new titles and pay raises to turn blind eyes and Board Members got their yearly lark trip (Vancouver, Victoria, Seattle etc) for their annual "Strategic Planning Meeting" (aka vacation/shopping trip = $20k) as payment for not asking questions.
The Staff were the ones out freezing their butts off on the sidewalk for almost 3 months in winter, trying to bring attention to this (and other) issues plaguing MR. The Staff and the wonderful community members that rallied around them most definitely brought this to the attention of several departments/agencies - mostly the financial improprieties regarding TAX PAYER DOLLARS - to no avail until it was too late and, as you noted, the cover up was complete.
To this day, given the past 2 years, I really wonder how things would look in Whitehorse and the communities had YG listened and acted - FREE counselling to assist dealing with the pandemic, 'bridge' counselling until those with addiction issues could find treatment and maybe even virtual general information sessions on coping mechanisms. How's YG's replacement 'hub model' working for the communities? The reality is, YG didn't properly oversee the funding as per their own regulations, which lead to that mess, and wanted to cover it up and make it go away asap and sadly the Yukon has suffered since 2019.
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Chuck Farley on Feb 23, 2022 at 9:16 am
DL mental health issues/ challenges have been present long before the pandemic arrived.
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Groucho d'North on Feb 22, 2022 at 1:42 pm
I'll ask my favourite question while this new group is in their planning phase.
How will you measure progress/success?
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Mitch Holder on Feb 22, 2022 at 1:10 pm
Why such a claim, did they finally catch up on all the YTG mental health emergencies that were filed because working from home is super hard? Several friends died not being able to access the same services, that were not YTG employees. Yes, I am sure it was a smash success..... that is why we are in a national emergency right?
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bonanzajoe on Feb 20, 2022 at 7:48 pm
MaxPiped: Totally right. Regarding the Salvation Army, they paid their workers starvation wages. I know, trust me. And most of them weren't actually qualified in that field. Could write a book on the things I saw and witnessed, but no Publisher would take a chance on publishing it. And it's pretty obvious these overly high paid government workers aren't much better.
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bonanzajoe on Feb 20, 2022 at 7:43 pm
First of all, thanks for using my moniker. Guess you were having trouble coming up with your own. But, I digress. You said, "The peanut gallery who has never been involved in this type of chaos should just keep their opinions to themselves." Many of us worked in the system facilitating, counseling etc. for years. But, because of the new age Human Rights system, good methods are now considered redundant. And I have not seen any progress made with the new systems, just a waste of tax money. Sadly, those that dole out all that tax money and create the programs, don't actually work in the system. Let the real experts do the job unhindered and you should see real progress. And probably at a much lesser cost.
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DL on Feb 20, 2022 at 2:26 am
The best and easiest way to improve mental health: lift all the covid mandates NOW. We all know that the lockdowns and mandates have caused unprecedented rates of depression, suicides, overdoses. But the Libs pretend that the solution is one more band aid on a festering wound.
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MaxPiped on Feb 19, 2022 at 7:12 pm
I don’t know where you got your information Minimax but Many Rivers closed because they got creative with their paperwork. Their ED got a free degree, the financial paper trail did not add up and there was a lot of shredded paper when the place got seized. Regarding Sally Anne, they were given a boatload of money, spent it and weren’t able to reconcile expenses with what they promised to do: Programming.
So you keep spinning your web.
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Fed up on Feb 19, 2022 at 4:54 pm
Resign McPhee you have no credibility you are a disgrace before you go dismantle Mental Wellness - totally useless and total waste of money. Sorry that would mean you might actually do something that would benefit Yukoners - never mind not your mandate.
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@bonanzajoe @madmax on Feb 19, 2022 at 3:37 pm
Everyone might not know it but addiction and mental illness started long before the pandemic. I find it wonderful that all groups are trying to work together, and yes there will be costs associated with helping our citizens with their addiction and mental well being. My experience with my loved one......It was 5 rehab places, three we paid for (over 60K), two were provincial funded, and it took two years to get the proper psychological team to help as well. The two have to work together. Not everyone can navigate all this especially the person that is sick.
I think it would be wonderful if all these groups can work together and get a logical streamlined solution to whomever chooses to get help. The work does not stop after the 45 -90 days, as there is no "cure". My loved one has been clean over a year now, and yes the addict does the work, BUT the addicts need people that love them, not give up, and gently guide them to sobriety with clear options that are readily available. The peanut gallery who has never been involved in this type of chaos should just keep their opinions to themselves.
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Max Mack on Feb 18, 2022 at 7:05 pm
So very hard for me to take this glowing presser as some kind of positive action by our government. I am sick of the propaganda and slick moves designed to shove money into the pockets of their allies.
For 2 years, this government has deliberately isolated people while destroying jobs, businesses and livelihoods, Let's not forget the coordinated take-down of Many Rivers and Salvation Army being kicked to the curb (e.g. Centre of Hope, Halfway House, Corrections Centre).
So much despair and misery created by THIS government, and this is what we get in response?
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bonanzajoe on Feb 18, 2022 at 3:31 pm
Ho humm. Another dud program that's going to cost thousands, with no solutions. Just like diseases - plenty of costly treatments, but no cures.