Our Mental Health System is overburdened, under-resourced and perpetuates a cycle of temporary solutions for mental wellness. 17% of Canadians aged 15 or older report having a mental health care need in the past year; one third of those individuals report that their needs were not fully met. Additionally, the economic cost of mental illness in Canada is estimated at $51 billion per year. This incl
udes health care costs, lost productivity, and reductions in health-related quality of life. Mental illness indirectly affects all Canadians at some time through a family member, friend or colleague. 20 percent of Canadians will personally experience a mental illness in their life time; that is one in every five people in our community. New View Society’s People Encouraging Everyone’s Recovery (PEER) is a pilot a project that aims to equip, educate, and empower our community to take charge of its mental health and wellness. Our goal is to reduce and prevent mental health issues from escalating to extreme isolation, hospitalization, and or su***de. This program is focused on building a community that has the tools and support networks to managed mental health challenges. We are going to implement mental health and wellness groups in the community through the peer support model. We plan to launch a team of peer support workers into the community to connect with individuals who have, or currently are experiencing, mental health challenges. This connection will be made through peer lead groups revolving around mental health and wellness. Groups may be focused on but are not limited to: mental and emotional health, employment and volunteering, fun and recreation, relationships with friends and family, life management skills, pursuit of personal growth, spirituality, intimate relationships and sexuality, physical health, home life and community engagement, and finances. We have chosen this model because of the growing evidence on Peer Support and its association with reductions in hospitalizations for mental health problems, reductions in symptoms, distress, improvements in social support, longer community tenure, reduced substance use among persons with co-occurring substance use disorders, improvements in people’s quality of life, and promoting a recovery-oriented culture within the mental health system. Many studies have established not only the benefits to the individuals involved, but also to the mental health system and communities as a whole, by saving millions of tax-payers dollars through reducing the use of the most expensive types of services. Due to the decreased work load in the traditional medical model, the quality of services and care provided would improve, benefitting the mental health system twofold.
