Now that the federal election is
over I can turn my attention fully (or as fully as I can get it) back to our
very important mental health in youth work. And my attention has been
caught by the following article: “NB Unveils Mental Health Plan”
The Minister of Health announced the
new plan which is supposed to put people at the center of interventions (I
assume these include prevention, early identification, treatment and ongoing
system improvements) and identified an additional 12.6 million dollars to help
do that.
Now that sounds like a lot of money
but apparently it is to be spread out over 7 years. So lets see what that
translates into: about 1.8 million per year. If all of that money is put
into human resources that can meet mental health needs of people then that will
result in a good improvement in service availability. If however, much is
put into administration there will be little to show for that
investment. Some also must go into training as we know that substantive
concerns about diagnostic and treatment capacity, especially in the primary
health care system exist: not only in New Brunswick but across
Canada. Some must also be spent on evaluation and quality
assurance. How else are we going to know if the investment results in
improvement at the personal, family and the system level?
So what will happen in New Brunswick
to improve mental health care in that province? Follow the money!
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