The Canadian Mental Health Association of Northern BC (CMHA) recently announced that it has secured $75,000 in new research funding.
Of the total amount, $50,000 comes from SPARC BC's Homelessness Community Action Grants program, and the remaining $25,000 is provided by the New Horizons for Seniors Program through Employment and Social Development Canada.
The $50,000 will go towards highlighting systemic barriers contributing to homelessness in the city, as well as supporting research on the intersection of mental illness and homelessness. CMHA hopes the research, when completed, will help inform policy in the city and drive meaningful change for the homeless population.
The $25,000 will contribute to exploring the mental health needs of older adults in Prince George, particularly addressing the effects of social isolation, stigma, and difficulty accessing appropriate care. This research will support the development of services tailored to seniors' mental health.
Dr. Elaine Laberge, executive director of the CMHA Northern BC, said one reason this research is important is the difference in mental health treatment between Northern communities and urban areas.
“We're the hub of Northern BC,” said Laberge. “People get dislocated and displaced, and that is very discombobulating. I really want to stress that homelessness, housing precarity, and food insecurity are difficult for mental health. For instance, our food bank in Quesnel was serving something like 700 households a month. It's really, really serious. I want to position CMHA of Northern BC as a leader, getting out into the community and focusing on mental health and mental illness and how that intersects with housing discrimination. For example, how mental illness develops and the experiences of seniors with mental illness. Too often, research focuses on urban areas. That's not the case for us. We need to focus on what those experiences are in these northern geographies.”
So far, Laberge has assembled a team of researchers and assistants and has begun identifying the key factors that drive mental illness in the North.
Laberge told The Citizen that one of the social barriers she has encountered in her early research is housing, which can heavily impact an individual's recovery. She also added that the trauma associated with living with the realities of homelessness is often not fully explored when treatment is considered.
“There’s so much misunderstanding about mental illness and housing precarity,” said Laberge. “I will say it’s traumatic. You can’t be in recovery and be mentally healthy when you’re either unhoused or don’t know if you’re going to have a roof over your head tomorrow… It leaves you living in fear of becoming homeless again. Because we’re facing such a horrible housing crisis on top of housing discrimination, it really has a negative impact on mental health if you're someone without a big bank account, which many of my clients don’t have. It becomes increasingly difficult to secure safe and affordable housing. If you're in recovery, you can’t be housed in community housing where people are actively in addiction, for instance. It’s like quitting drinking and then going to hang out at a bar.”
Laberge said that often, the stigma attached to mental health and homelessness are some of the biggest barriers to treatment and recovery. One notable example is the number of people she’s spoken with who are unwilling to rent property to people with mental illness.
“A really big driving force behind this research is the destigmatization of mental illness,” said Laberge. “BC has some of the highest rates of stigma regarding mental illness, so we’ve got a lot of work to do in this area. I did a presentation last week to a group of executives, and it was really shocking how many said they wouldn’t rent to anybody who’s mentally ill because they thought they were just going to come in and ruin the place. Well, I know people who come from gated communities and go in and ruin places.”
While the research will focus on homelessness in the North, another equally important aspect of the research is the mental health care of seniors.
“One of the things we’re looking to do is make visible seniors’ experiences with mental illness,” said Laberge. “We know that certain generations do not discuss mental health. So this, for a lot of folks, is going to be the first time they’ve ever talked about mental health and mental illness and how it shapes their lives. We know that some folks may be experiencing isolation because of mobility issues, our fractured healthcare system, and the impacts these have on physical, spiritual, and mental health. We may learn, for instance, the profound need to expand community-based programming so that people can become part of communities and have that sense of belonging. In my research, the community piece and the sense of belonging were a common theme. It didn’t matter what race, gender, or identity; you have to have community.”
Once the research is completed, CMHA plans to share the results with the community and academics alike. The findings will be shared through a series of videos, a micro-documentary, and conventional presentations.
“We’re going to submit to associations and universities,” said Laberge. “We hope to get it published so it can inform policies, procedures, programming, and services for other areas across this country. We’ll also be sending it out on an international scale.”
CMHA is also looking for help with the project. The organization is seeking businesses or individuals who can assist with filming and editing, in addition to monetary donations.
For more information or to offer support, email [email protected].
