As COVID-19 hit and B.C. went into lock down, something happened that B.C.’s crisis line executive director Stacy Ashton hadn’t anticipated.
The provincial government offered her money to help British Columbians deal with pandemic mental health stresses.
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And, the Crisis Intervention & Suicide Prevention Centre of B.C. needed a cash infusion as staff had to hire people to work the lines as volunteers went into isolation.
“What we’ve been seeing in terms of COVID impact is our call volume is up 25%,” Ashton said.
While the proportion of the reasons for calls remained stable, Ashton said people were reaching out due to the impacts of world or political events.
Those impacts and the uncertainty were making people anxious and depressed, she said.
However, while the suicide rate is lower than previous years, new research shows Canadians aren’t reaching out for Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) pandemic health services as much as they might.
And, explained UBC School of Nursing’s Emily Jenkins, some groups have been showing greater pandemic impacts than others, among them people with pre-existing medical conditions, parents of children under 18 and members of the LGBTQ community.
“Not everybody is impacted equally in terms of the mental health impact or suicidal ideation,” Jenkins said.
What has helped, she said, is political response from both Ottawa and Victoria to protect people’s wellbeing. The issue, though, is whether people accept that help.
Canadians not reaching out
However, Canadians aren’t making as much use as they might from the help governments are offering, said new research from UBC and the CMHA released Nov. 10.
While 65% of 3,000 survey participants reported adverse mental health impacts related to COVID-19 in May, only 2% reported accessing online mental health resources such as apps, websites, digital tools or other supports not involving direct contact with a mental health care provider.
“These programs are ideally positioned for the types of difficult experiences and emotions that we’re seeing during the pandemic,” Jenkins said. “They are well suited for people who are having trouble coping and need some support to manage their mental health.”
Only 10% reporting self-harming or coping “not well at all” due to pandemic stress said they had used available tools.
And, among those experiencing suicidal thoughts or feelings, 8% said they had used the supports, while 7% of respondents who reported “significantly worse” mental health during the pandemic said they had.
Jenkins said suicidal thinking and self harm is likely also influenced by isolation, limited social supports, changes in access to mental health care and services and being overwhelmed from multiple and competing demands.
“Feelings of anxiety, depression, loneliness and hopelessness were highly prevalent, which we also know can be linked to suicidality,” Jenkins said.
Indeed, Public Health Agency of Canada surveys found people dealing with such conditions during COVID were four times more likely to have had suicidal thoughts, 2.5 times more likely to feel depressed, three times more likely to have trouble coping and four times more likely to have deliberately harmed themselves.
And, the crisis centre’s call-volume increase is hardly surprising.
Mental health worsened in pandemic
According to Statistics Canada, “the general Canadian population also reported that their mental health worsened after the start of physical distancing.”
But, while Canadians have reported greater mental health concerns during the pandemic, that has not translated into worst-case scenarios in B.C., where the suicide rate has declined compared with 2019.
BC Coroners Service statistics show that overall, the number of B.C., suicide deaths between January and August has appeared to decrease by 7% compared with 2019.
Moreover, compared with last year, each health authority has seen an apparent decline in suicide deaths, with the exception of Island Health, which saw a 3% increase. The health authority with the largest decline is Northern Health at 33%, followed by Fraser Health at 11%. Vancouver Coastal saw a 1% drop while Interior Health saw a 4% decline.
That’s not to say, though, that British Columbians are not feeling pandemic-related stresses.
Crisis centre surveys indicate British Columbians are experiencing mental health concerns. And, it’s Metro Vancouver showing the biggest increase in these concerns, the centre found. Some 28% more Vancouverite respondents said their mental health is fair to poor now, compared with before the pandemic.
And, the crisis centre reported in June, call rates had increased. Earlier, the centre said, “People are facing unforeseen financial and social stresses due to sudden job loss, fear of illness and the pressures of self-isolation, amongst other factors.”
Ashton said what the federal and provincial governments have done in providing assistance to Canadians is in line with what other socially minded nations have done.
She cited a new study from Iran’s Larestan University of Medical Sciences, which indicated suicide rates are lower in those countries offering residents greater social assistance networks, labour market supports and suicide prevention programs.
“The existence of social support and also supporting the labour market in different countries can reduce the harmful psychological effects of economic recession,” the study said.
How to find help with COVID stress
So what can people access to help cope as the pandemic continues?
Victoria announced in April $5 million to expand existing mental health programs and services and launch new services to support British Columbians.
Among other online mental health resources available free to Canadians are:
• CMHA’s BounceBack, currently available in B.C., Manitoba and Ontario and expanding to the rest of the country soon through a gift from Bell Let’s Talk; • Wellness Together Canada, a federally funded program; and • WellCan, a resource developed and funded by corporate, community and public sector partners.
The Canadian government says it will donate up to 200,000 vaccine doses to fight the mpox outbreak in Congo and other African countries.
It says the donated doses of Imvamune will come from Canada’s existing supply and will not affect the country’s preparedness for mpox cases in this country.
Minister of Health Mark Holland says the donation “will help to protect those in the most affected regions of Africa and will help prevent further spread of the virus.”
Dr. Madhukar Pai, Canada research chair in epidemiology and global health, says although the donation is welcome, it is a very small portion of the estimated 10 million vaccine doses needed to control the outbreak.
Vaccine donations from wealthier countries have only recently started arriving in Africa, almost a month after the World Health Organization declared the mpox outbreak a public health emergency of international concern.
A few days after the declaration in August, Global Affairs Canada announced a contribution of $1 million for mpox surveillance, diagnostic tools, research and community awareness in Africa.
On Thursday, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said mpox is still on the rise and that testing rates are “insufficient” across the continent.
Jason Kindrachuk, Canada research chair in emerging viruses at the University of Manitoba, said donating vaccines, in addition to supporting surveillance and diagnostic tests, is “massively important.”
But Kindrachuk, who has worked on the ground in Congo during the epidemic, also said that the international response to the mpox outbreak is “better late than never (but) better never late.”
“It would have been fantastic for us globally to not be in this position by having provided doses a much, much longer time prior than when we are,” he said, noting that the outbreak of clade I mpox in Congo started in early 2023.
Clade II mpox, endemic in regions of West Africa, came to the world’s attention even earlier — in 2022 — as that strain of virus spread to other countries, including Canada.
Two doses are recommended for mpox vaccination, so the donation may only benefit 100,000 people, Pai said.
Pai questioned whether Canada is contributing enough, as the federal government hasn’t said what percentage of its mpox vaccine stockpile it is donating.
“Small donations are simply not going to help end this crisis. We need to show greater solidarity and support,” he said in an email.
“That is the biggest lesson from the COVID-19 pandemic — our collective safety is tied with that of other nations.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
Canadian Press health coverage receives support through a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. CP is solely responsible for this content.
HALIFAX – The Nova Scotia government says it could be months before it reveals how many people are on the wait-list for a family doctor.
The head of the province’s health authority told reporters Wednesday that the government won’t release updated data until the 160,000 people who were on the wait-list in June are contacted to verify whether they still need primary care.
Karen Oldfield said Nova Scotia Health is working on validating the primary care wait-list data before posting new numbers, and that work may take a matter of months. The most recent public wait-list figures are from June 1, when 160,234 people, or about 16 per cent of the population, were on it.
“It’s going to take time to make 160,000 calls,” Oldfield said. “We are not talking weeks, we are talking months.”
The interim CEO and president of Nova Scotia Health said people on the list are being asked where they live, whether they still need a family doctor, and to give an update on their health.
A spokesperson with the province’s Health Department says the government and its health authority are “working hard” to turn the wait-list registry into a useful tool, adding that the data will be shared once it is validated.
Nova Scotia’s NDP are calling on Premier Tim Houston to immediately release statistics on how many people are looking for a family doctor. On Tuesday, the NDP introduced a bill that would require the health minister to make the number public every month.
“It is unacceptable for the list to be more than three months out of date,” NDP Leader Claudia Chender said Tuesday.
Chender said releasing this data regularly is vital so Nova Scotians can track the government’s progress on its main 2021 campaign promise: fixing health care.
The number of people in need of a family doctor has more than doubled between the 2021 summer election campaign and June 2024. Since September 2021 about 300 doctors have been added to the provincial health system, the Health Department said.
“We’ll know if Tim Houston is keeping his 2021 election promise to fix health care when Nova Scotians are attached to primary care,” Chender said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
ST. JOHN’S, N.L. – Newfoundland and Labrador‘s chief medical officer is monitoring the rise of whooping cough infections across the province as cases of the highly contagious disease continue to grow across Canada.
Dr. Janice Fitzgerald says that so far this year, the province has recorded 230 confirmed cases of the vaccine-preventable respiratory tract infection, also known as pertussis.
Late last month, Quebec reported more than 11,000 cases during the same time period, while Ontario counted 470 cases, well above the five-year average of 98. In Quebec, the majority of patients are between the ages of 10 and 14.
Meanwhile, New Brunswick has declared a whooping cough outbreak across the province. A total of 141 cases were reported by last month, exceeding the five-year average of 34.
The disease can lead to severe complications among vulnerable populations including infants, who are at the highest risk of suffering from complications like pneumonia and seizures. Symptoms may start with a runny nose, mild fever and cough, then progress to severe coughing accompanied by a distinctive “whooping” sound during inhalation.
“The public, especially pregnant people and those in close contact with infants, are encouraged to be aware of symptoms related to pertussis and to ensure vaccinations are up to date,” Newfoundland and Labrador’s Health Department said in a statement.
Whooping cough can be treated with antibiotics, but vaccination is the most effective way to control the spread of the disease. As a result, the province has expanded immunization efforts this school year. While booster doses are already offered in Grade 9, the vaccine is now being offered to Grade 8 students as well.
Public health officials say whooping cough is a cyclical disease that increases every two to five or six years.
Meanwhile, New Brunswick’s acting chief medical officer of health expects the current case count to get worse before tapering off.
A rise in whooping cough cases has also been reported in the United States and elsewhere. The Pan American Health Organization issued an alert in July encouraging countries to ramp up their surveillance and vaccination coverage.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 10, 2024.
