Nunavut MLA highlights need for coordinated mental health services

Iqaluit-Manirajak MLA Adam Arreak Lightstone raised the issue of domestic violence in the legislature on Wednesday, Nov. 7. (FILE PHOTO)

The family of an Iqaluit man with depression and suicidal thoughts was recently put in danger by poor communication and coordination by government service providers, says Iqaluit-Manirajak MLA Adam Arreak Lightstone.

Lightstone shared the story, which a constituent had told him, during the recent sitting of Nunavut’s legislative assembly on Nov. 7, during members’ statements.

The father of the family had been taken to the Qikiqtani General Hospital, after the RCMP had been called because the mother and young children’s safety was at risk.

The mother and the family then “met with the manager of the Iqaluit mental health to share the ongoing emotional abuse, the risk factors and behaviours, and the repeated threat to their safety,” said Lightstone.

To their surprise, “without warning or notice being given to the mother and the family, the father was later released from the hospital,” he said.

Lightstone said that, according to the incident report:

• No safety plan or referral was made for the immediate safety of the mother or her children.

• No referral was offered for the children to have access to mental health support or the support of a worker from the Arctic Children and Youth Foundation or children and family services.

• No follow-up support was offered for the man’s partner and children, or the people he threatened.

Lightstone added that the father’s release from the hospital without a treatment plan and without a plan for the safety of the mother and the children, or a referral to services that could help in the process, not only endangered the man but also his partner, their children and their friends.

In question period, Lightstone asked Health Minister George Hickes, “How many more women and children do we need to lose to domestic violence and mental health-related instances before the mental health system adequately provides a coordinated service?”

Hickes expressed concern about the incident that Lightstone had referred to and offered to meet with him and any families who had expressed their concerns “to go over their experience and to help maybe identify improvements that could be made to the system.”

He added that improvements had been made in the delivery of mental health services “by dedicating a greater amount not just of money but also resources, creating more positions for mental health workers all across the territory, dozens of positions.”

Lightstone asked Hickes how many psychiatrists are currently employed full-time with the department, as well as how many mental health nurses.

Hickes said that there are “approximately 146 positions across the territory with regard to mental health in different capacities, 43 PYs [person-years, or full-time equivalent hires] here in Iqaluit alone, to be a little bit more specific.”

He added “That being said … there’s still not enough money being invested into mental health.”

Hickes noted that he sees a trend whereby more and more people are accessing mental health services and sees how there have to be “resources in place to address this increasing need.

“Just here in Iqaluit alone, there were over 1,100 appointments made in the past year with mental health workers; 141 referrals to the QGH outside of those appointments, with over 570 people treated in those appointments.”

As part of his response to a later question from MLA Tony Akoak about whether a mental health facility could be established in Gjoa Haven, Hickes indicated that there are community-based initiatives to help with mental health issues that are often “unnoticed or under-recognized,” such as on-the-land programs or Cambridge Bay’s mobile addictions counselling program.

Hickes added, “We’re looking at building capacity in the communities so that they can deal with a number of the different elements before somebody reaches a point where they actually have to go to a larger scale facility, such as what we’re sending people out of territory right now.”

During the spring sitting, Lightstone had shared the story of the death of his sister and her daughters at the hands of her husband, as he said on Nov. 7, “to raise awareness of domestic violence in the hopes of preventing further pain, loss, and suffering.”

Lightstone added, “Unfortunately we have a very long way to go. Immediate changes need to occur.”