ICYMI: September & October Edition
In Case You Missed It: What we did in September and October
Blog Post Highlight: National Day for Truth and Reconciliation: The Right to Health
Colonization’s impact on many of our public systems can still be felt today and has contributed to many health inequities. These impacts directly harm Indigenous people. For example, involuntary mental health and substance use treatment, enforced by the colonial health and legal systems, can be experienced as yet another source of control over Indigenous people that pathologizes and criminalizes the impacts of colonialism. Recognizing this systemic context is necessary to understand the impacts of genocide, colonization, and racism in colonial health and legal systems on First Nations, Métis, and Inuit people, as well as their resistance to and resilience from those systems.
We all have a fundamental human right to have an equal opportunity to our highest standard of health. In this blog post we summarized some actions that are required for reconciliation regarding rights to health and better health services for Indigenous people based on recommendations from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada - Calls to Action, National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls - Calls to Action, and United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
Education Session with BCASW
Near the end of September, Health Justice continued with their education sessions with a session hosted by the BC Association of Social Workers on the intersections and tensions between social work ethics and mental health law. While this was not the only education session that took place during September and October, the session was a chance to have important conversations about involuntary treatment and mental health law with current and future social workers.
Website Updates
There were quite a few updates made to our website over the last couple months and there are more to come. The latest updates include:
New: Archived Links
Updated: Timeline
Focus Groups
Recently, Health Justice completed two focus groups that will help inform our work, including our future publications. These focus groups included those who have been involuntarily treated and those that have had review panel hearings. We will be continuing to run focus groups in the future.
To keep up with what we’re up to, check out our socials below!
ICYMI: Other News
More than 1 in 5 residents in long-term care given antipsychotics without a diagnosis, data shows
Antipsychotics are being prescribed for off-label uses in long-term care at increasing rates to "combat a variety of behaviours, from wandering to insomnia." Antipsychotics being used in this way has shown to possibly "increase the risk of falls and fractures in older adults." Proper complex care is needed instead of sedation that "only masks the issue."
New Study Released: Increased risk of death immediately after discharge from compulsory care for substance abuse
A new study has found that compulsory treatment for substance use increases the risk of death after release, especially within the first two weeks after release. With calls for forced treatment as a solution, this highlights how that can harm instead of help.
For My Father, Who Should Have Lived
This is an important read that was released in September about family perspectives on why we need to revisit BC’s Mental Health Act.