Mental health strategy a blueprint for Nunavut

KIRSTEN MURPHY

A long-awaited health and addictions report paints a bleak picture at the challenges facing the government of Nunavut.

Nunavut Addictions and Mental Health Strategy provides hard numbers for what’s ailing Canada’s newest territory, including escalating crime rates, domestic violence and substance abuse.

The report, tabled by health minister Ed Picco in the legislative assembly two weeks ago, will act as map for hiring more community workers, developing Inuit-based healing programs and building treatment facilities.

The health department’s $157-million budget recently received a $2.2-million boost to implement parts of the strategy.

About half of the $2.2 million is earmarked for a new 24-hour shelter for mental health patients. The Iqaluit-based facility, expected to open in October, will serve Baffin clients.

Similar but smaller facilities are being considered in the Kitikmeot and Kivalliq regions, the report says.

“Capacity is a concern but it’s a concern government-wide. Money has been set aside, it’s not enough money, I’d like to have more, but its a first step and it’s a good step,” Picco said.

The first step is to hire more community outreach workers and psychiatric nurses throughout the territory this year, Picco said, to alleviate the demands placed on health centres. Traditional Inuit knowledge will play a vital role in shaping health-care delivery and healing.

“This is a cornerstone for future governments to look at. When the next election comes along they’ll have a strategy they can work with. When I started three years ago, there was nothing,” Picco said.

The strategy’s success requires the health department to work closely with the departments of education and justice, Picco said.

The 71-page document makes the following observations:

• Nunavut has the highest birthrate in Canada. One-third of the territory’s population is under the age of 15 and preventative health services need to target youth.

• Nunavut’s suicide rate is significantly higher than the national average. New efforts are needed to address the root cause to counter this “devastating phenomenon.”

• Nunavut’s crime rate is three times the national average.

• Some community members are hesitant to seek out community wellness or addictions workers from the same community for fear of a loss of privacy.

• People with severe mental illnesses in Nunavut rely heavily on an overextended health centre staff.

• Mentally ill clients who commit minor crimes, often as a result of their illness, are often incarcerated for lack of mental health crisis services and inflexible law enforcement. These clients often don’t receive much-needed treatment and worsen while incarcerated.

• Emergency shelter admissions are eight times the national average. Children make up 50 per cent of those in need of such shelter.

• Reported cases of child abuse jumped 54 per cent between 1992 and 1997.

• About two per cent of Nunavut children are either in permanent or temporary foster care — triple the national average of .67 per cent.

• 30 per cent of expectant mothers consume significant quantities of alcohol during their pregnancies.

• 65 per cent of inmates are affected by fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS).

“These challenges are serious threats to Nunavut’s way of life. There is unquestionably a strong sense of vibrancy and optimism in Nunavut’s Inuit culture. The ability to continue the Inuit tradition of having networks of close-knit families with reverence for elders is contingent on overcoming these obstacles,” the report says.