City council votes yes to fund homeless encampment ‘service depots’ – CBC News [2023-06-28]
London city council is moving ahead with a plan to create four service depots for homeless populations in the downtown core.
As London faces an escalating homelessness crisis, the plan to ramp up emergency response supports was pushed forward by city council at a meeting Tuesday evening.
City council approved additional funding for temporary mobile depots which will provide basic services such as portable toilets, sanitation facilities, drinking water, food, social supports and garbage collection at four locations in the downtown core near the Thames River.
There will also be safety resources and checks to ensure fire safety and personal safety of residents including access to the overdose prevention drug Naloxone.
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CBC News
June 28, 2023
Why Doctors Are Moving Away from BMI – Psychology Today [2023-06-28]
If you’ve been to a doctor’s office or fitness center in recent years, you’ve likely had your Body Mass Index calculated. The BMI formula uses a person’s weight in kilograms divided by the square of their height in meters. The resulting number is classified into one of four categories: underweight, normal weight, overweight, or obese. These labels are prolific in the U.S. medical system. At one point, BMI classification was even used to establish eligibility for COVID vaccines.
Earlier this month, the American Medical Association voted to move away from using BMI as a measurement to assess weight and health. The calculation is problematic for many reasons. To understand why, you must first understand its history.
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Psychology Today
June 28, 2023
People with Mental Illness Are More Likely to Be Abused by Law Enforcement – Psychology Today [2023-06-28]
“Every time the police come after me they make me madder,” says Richard Saville-Smith, Ph.D.
Saville-Smith is an independent scholar in the United Kingdom who writes about madness. He lives with madness himself. In early June his wife was worried about him and she phoned the physician, who then phoned the police. “The police officers were female and they were so fit they could run after me. I told them I didn’t want to be locked up,” says Saville-Smith. “My environment was safe for me. I had my own bed, I knew how everything worked.”
They wrestled him into submission. “They cracked my rib and gave me abrasions all over my arm. There’s still nerve damage to my fingers,” he says. After an altercation with the two police officers, Saville-Smith was involuntarily hospitalized.
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Psychology Today
June 28, 2023
Indigenous Justice and a New Path for Canada’s Prisons – The Tyee [2023-06-26]
When I asked Boyd Peters, a Sts’ailes First Nation member and BC First Nations Justice Council director, about the effects of long-term incarceration on Indigenous people, his brow furrowed. He exhaled and looked down before responding.
“Nobody should have to go through that,” he said.
But more and more Indigenous people are going “through that” — living in Canadian prisons despite federal government commitments “to reset the relationship between Indigenous peoples and the justice system.” From 2009 to 2018, as the general prison population expanded by only one per cent, the Indigenous prisoner population increased by 43 per cent.
A recent report by B.C.’s Prisoners’ Legal Services, “Decarceration Through Self-determination: Ending the Mass Incarceration of Indigenous People in Canada,” suggests a better way to address the overrepresentation of Indigenous people in Canada’s prisons. The report’s proposal seems radical, but it potentially realizes Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s goal of reducing the “extreme overrepresentation of Indigenous individuals as incarcerated offenders” while honouring the right to Indigenous self-determination in Section 35 of Canada’s Constitution Act.
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The Tyee
June 26, 2023
More supports needed to protect people with schizophrenia from extreme heat, experts say – CBC News [2023-06-24]
British Columbia’s 2021 heat dome killed people diagnosed with schizophrenia at a higher rate than those with any other chronic illness, according to recent findings from researchers at the B.C. Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC).
As extreme heat events are forecasted to become more common and intense, researchers and one advocate are calling for more public awareness and cooling centres for vulnerable people, including those with schizophrenia.
During the heat dome’s hottest eight days in B.C., 134 people diagnosed with schizophrenia died, triple the average numbers of deaths during the same period from 2006 to 2020, found a peer-reviewed article published in journal GeoHealth in March.
That represents about eight per cent of all deaths recorded during the extreme heat event, while people with schizophrenia make up only about one per cent of the population, said a June opinion article published in the B.C. Medical Journal.
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CBC News
June 24, 2023
City of Barrie backs down on plan to ban giving food to homeless people on its property – CBC News [2023-06-21]
The city of Barrie, Ont., has backed away from proposed bylaws that would have made it illegal to distribute food, literature, clothes, tents and tarps to unhoused people on public property.
At a meeting on Wednesday night, council decided unanimously to refer bylaws 67 and 68 back to staff. The matter is expected to return to a general committee meeting later this year.
“There should be zero fear out there that a bylaw officer or a peace officer is going to come and ask you not to give water to someone who needs it,” Mayor Alex Nuttall told council chambers.
Coun. Jim Harris, who represents Ward 8, said the intent of the bylaws was not to prevent people from helping unhoused people.
“Charitable acts of kindness, giving, are central to our community and we do not want to punish that. That’s not the intent,” Harris said.
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CBC News
June 21, 2023
Edmonton MP to file official grievance about Taylor Swift tour’s lack of Canadian shows – Global News [2023-06-21]
Edmonton MP Matt Jeneroux hopes Taylor Swift’s lack of Canadian stops on her Eras Tour is not about bad blood.
In several posts on his social media accounts, the Conservative politician indicated he would follow Australia’s lead and file a grievance with Parliament to encourage Taylor Swift to add some Canadian dates to her Eras Tour.
“It has come to my attention that despite much anticipation, Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour has neglected to include any Canadian dates or locations as she released her international dates, which includes stops throughout Asia and Europe,” Jeneroux wrote in a letter dated and signed on Wednesday, June 21.
“Similar to what’s being considered in Australia, I would like to file an official grievance within Parliament on behalf of all Swifties in Canada for her and her team to reconsider,” the letter continued.
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Global News
June 21, 2023
What Is the Pseudo-Psychiatric Term Excited Delirium? – Psychology Today [2023-06-21]
- A pseudo-psychiatric diagnosis is being used by police and other first responders.
- Ketamine and other tactics are then being used to subdue a person.
- Police and first responders to mental health crises need more training.
- Mental health professionals and the police must collaborate on humane handling of behavioral emergencies.
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Psychology Today
June 21, 2023
Daytime naps may be good for our brains, study says – CTV News [2023-06-20]
Taking daytime naps may help maintain brain health as we age, according to a new study. However, prior research has shown that excess napping can also be harmful.
Habitual napping was linked with larger total brain volume, which is associated with a lower risk of dementia and other diseases, according to researchers from University College London (UCL) and the University of the Republic of Uruguay.
On average, the difference in brain volume between nappers and non-nappers was equivalent to 2.5 to 6.5 years of aging, researchers said.
“Our findings suggest that, for some people, short daytime naps may be a part of the puzzle that could help preserve the health of the brain as we get older,” said senior author Victoria Garfield, a senior research fellow at UCL, in a statement.
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CTV News
June 20, 2023
London councillor called out by colleagues over light workload – CTV News [2023-06-21]
Simmering tensions about how the workload is being divided between councillors boiled over at city hall.
On Tuesday, the Strategic Priorities and Policy Committee was tasked with nominating two councillors to sit on the Kettle Creek Conservation Authority, and another to join the Lower Thames Conservation Authority.
Typically, councillors nominate themselves for appointments to fill vacancies on outside agencies, boards, and commissions.
But Coun. Skylar Franke took an unexpected approach that triggered nervous laughter from her colleagues— nominating Ward 10 Coun. Paul Van Meerbergen who was absent.
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CTV News
June 21, 2023
Why It Can be Hard to Get Pronouns Right, According to Linguistics – Mental Floss [2023-06-20]
It can happen to anyone: As you’re talking, you hear yourself say, “I heard that she—wait, I mean he!” A pronoun slip can be embarrassing, especially if you pride yourself on being generally good at using the language people have asked you to use.
But why do pronoun slips happen, and why do we seem to mess up pronouns more than names or other gendered words? Linguistics (the scientific study of language) has answers, and can give us insight into how to use the words we want to use—and the techniques are surprisingly similar to how we learn new languages.
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Mental Floss
June 20, 2023
Ontario the latest province to stop imprisoning migrants – CBC News [2023-06-16]
Ontario has joined seven other provinces in announcing it will no longer incarcerate migrants detained for administrative reasons in its provincial jails.
Earlier this week, a Radio-Canada/CBC report revealed that Quebec and New Brunswick had ended their contracts with the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), under which the provinces were paid to imprison foreign nationals held under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.
Following that news, human rights organizations and immigration lawyers reinforced their appeal to Ontario, where CBSA detains the most migrants, to follow suit.
On Thursday, Ontario Solicitor General Michael Kerzner told federal Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino that his government was also cancelling its contract. Under these agreements, the provinces must give CBSA one year’s notice of cancellation.
Ontario’s decision was first reported by the Globe and Mail. Radio-Canada/CBC confirmed the information.
“Ontario’s correctional institutions should be focused on providing care and custody to individuals serving custodial sentences or on remand, not on immigration detainees, which is the federal government’s responsibility,” a ministry spokesperson told Radio-Canada/CBC.
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CBC News
June 16, 2023
London police not doing enough to tackle systemic racism, policing expert says – CBC News [2023-06-16]
London police officials are not doing enough to analyze their own race-based use-of-force numbers to start tackling systemic racism within their organization, an expert in police data says.
London police numbers crunched by researcher Tandeep Sidhu show Black people in the city experienced force by officers at a rate five times higher than the general population in 2022. Indigenous Londoners experienced use of force by officers at a rate of just over twice as high as the general population that same year.
“In order to move forward and effectively address these issues, there needs to be an acknowledgment of systemic discrimination in policing practices. This is a matter of public trust and transparency,” Sidhu told CBC News.
Sidhu was with a research team analyzing data for the police watchdog Special Investigations Unit. He specializes in race-based numbers analysis and is working on his PhD at the University of Waterloo.
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CBC News
June 16, 2023
London’s opioid users say street drugs are getting stronger, cheaper and deadlier – CBC News [2023-06-16]
People who use fentanyl on the streets of London say the deadly opioid is becoming ever cheaper and more powerful, delivering higher highs, while simultaneously raising the risk of overdose death.
Without widespread testing, there’s no way of knowing, but the city’s drug problem has become more visible in the core, where strung out users lay in alcoves, doorways and on sidewalks where they remain sprawled in broad daylight, sometimes for hours, as passersby go on with their daily business in the city centre.
Relief agency officials say while the problem might appear more visible, it’s not because of an increased prevalence of drug abuse. Rather, the city’s homeless population has recently doubled, making people who use the drugs to self-medicate for pain, mental illness, or sometimes just to catch some sleep, more visible.
“I really believe it’s getting stronger,” said Dave, a fentanyl user who spoke to CBC News on the condition his real name would not be used in order to protect him from the stigma of homelessness and drug addiction.
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CBC News
June 16, 2023
Winnipeg man says he wanted federal prison sentence because of better addiction supports – CBC News [2023-06-15]
A Winnipeg man living with a cocaine addiction who has previously spent time in a provincial jail is back behind bars, this time in a federal penitentiary — and that’s what he wanted.
Jason Walmsley, 34, told CBC in an interview inside the federal Stony Mountain Institution that a prison sentence — as opposed to a provincial jail sentence at Headingley Correctional Centre, where he’s served time before — will give him a better chance at staying clean after he’s released.
With a provincial jail, “when my release date comes, that’s exactly what it is — it’s a release. You get let go at the first bus stop in the west end of Winnipeg,” Walmsley said.
“I know for a fact that when I get released from this [federal] prison [and] that while I’m in this prison, the biggest concern for them is something called my correction plan.”
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CBC News
June 15, 2023
Mental health ‘on the go’ coming to midwestern Ontario – CTV News [2023-06-13]
In a few weeks, a black van with tinted windows will be rolling into communities across midwestern Ontario, offering help for people dealing with everything from anxiety to addictions.
“You’ll see the clinic doesn’t have any logos or any identification on it. We want it to be a discreet, stigma-free opportunity for people,” explained Erik Sande, president of Medavie Health Services.
With funds from the province, Medavie Health will be the operators of midwestern Ontario’s first mobile mental health and addictions clinic.
Starting later this summer, one social worker and one registered nurse or nurse practitioner will travel around Perth, Wellington, Huron, and Bruce counties, offering immediate help for people dealing with things like anxiety and depression, and referrals for more complicated mental health and addiction emergencies.
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CTV News
June 13, 2023
Abstinence not required: How a Baltimore drug treatment program prioritizes saving lives – CTV News [2023-06-11]
Anthony Kelly trudged through southwest Baltimore, each laboured footstep a reminder of the roofing accident that left him with chronic pain and a raging opioid addiction several years after he returned home from serving in the Marines.
Doctors used metal plates to reconstruct his lower legs and Kelly spent months learning to walk again. So began his plodding journey into the depths of substance use disorder, a downward spiral that would gradually weaken his body and consume his mind.
After his prescribed painkillers ran out, Kelly turned to a combination of heroin and cocaine that sometimes cost $500 per day.
More than a decade later, his substance use is more manageable and less expensive, though it remains a controlling force in his life. He takes buprenorphine, a prescription medication that’s considered the gold standard for treating opioid addiction by reducing cravings and easing withdrawal symptoms.
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CTV News
June 11, 2023
Are drag queen storytimes worth fighting for? These people think so – CBC News [2023-06-07]
As pushback and protests continue over drag storytimes across Southwestern Ontario, advocates say making those experiences available is a way to teach understanding and accepting differences.
Adam Davies, the co-chair of the Anti-Oppression Rainbow Research Lab at the University of Guelph — who is also a registered early childhood educator — believes drag queen storytimes are something worth fighting for.
“It is of the most – the utmost importance – to fight for drag and drag storytime because of how it really is showing children, young people, families what we could be as a future society in terms of reimagining and transforming gender,” Davies told CBC News.
“And these spaces are so important because we know that children start bullying and policing each other’s gender at a very young age, and those behaviours are often learned from parents and family figures.”
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CBC News
June 7, 2023
Here’s how ‘code-switching’ can hurt Black, Indigenous people in Canada – CTV News [2023-06-05]
In a dominantly white culture, racialized people in Canada may “codeswitch”, Selam Debs, an antiracism coach said.
Code-switching refers to a person changing their behaviour, expression or appearance Debs told CTV’s Your Morning on Monday, explaining the reasons for doing so can include safety, job opportunities or quality service.
“Black, Indigenous and racialized folks are often considered ‘the other’ when it comes to accents,” she said. “So we might change the way that we speak, recognizing that it is in relationship with trying to fit into what is considered professional.”
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CTV News
June 5, 2023
More highly supportive, deeply affordable housing units coming to London this fall – CBC News [2023-06-05]
The city has approved a deal with charity Indwell for 44 deeply affordable, highly supportive housing units, a step toward London’s promise to open 100 such apartments by the end of the year.
City councillors approved the plan for the supportive housing units last week. It will cost about $1.7 million a year to operate the facility, money that will come from the city initially but will eventually receive subsidies from provincial health care and federal homelessness funding.
The building at 403 Thompson Road in the Glen Cairn neighbourhood will provide 24/7 onsite care that includes mental health, addiction and nursing services, as well as one meal per day, activities and other and housing stability supports for tenants.
“To be able to transition this site to something that supplies 44 of the 100 highly supportive units that we want to have this year puts us on a really good track to demonstrate to the funding partners that we are 100 per cent serious about moving forward with our plan on an aggressive timeframe and we’re willing to shift our approach and our assets to be able to do that,” said Mayor Josh Morgan.
Indwell is the largest developer of the purpose-built, affordable and supportive housing in the province.
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CBC News
June 5, 2023
Antipsychotic drugs use increased in Canadian long-term care homes, pointing to possible quality-of-care issues: study – CTV News [2023-06-03]
A new study has revealed an increase in antipsychotic drugs use in long-term care homes across Canada despite no significant increase in behavioural symptoms of residents – something that may expose a potential area of concern for quality of care, researchers say.
The study, published in Health Services Insights, examined data from yearly Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) reports to assess how COVID-19 impacted resident admission and discharge rates, resident health attributes, treatments, and quality of care.
The report data was collected two years pre-pandemic and in the first year of COVID-19, and was from more than 500,000 residents across Ontario, Manitoba, Alberta, and British Columbia.
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CTV News
June 3, 2023
Access to virtual mental-health care uneven across Canada – Healthy Debate [2023-05-28]
Despite the promises of “universality” and “accessibility” enshrined in the Canada Health Act, virtual delivery of family physician services for mental health varies enormously across the country.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic onset, virtual delivery of physician services in Canada was rare – other than in specific settings, it was not included within publicly funded health services. Soon after the start of the pandemic, 50 per cent of outpatient care was provided through virtual modalities, an astonishing 56-fold increase, comprising 71 per cent of primary-care visits in the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic. This was a welcome change for many patients, who had reported substantial barriers to accessing virtual care in the past.
These changes also impacted accessing mental-health services for many patients, given that primary mental-health care physician services are publicly funded, and therefore free-of-charge to most patients. Our team’s work has demonstrated that anxiety and depression were the most common reason for people consulting family physicians in 2020.
Family doctors are a mainstay of mental-health services in Canada because their services are paid for by provincial and territorial Medicare programs. Billing codes included in the Schedule of Medical Benefits in each province and territory determine the range of services that are publicly funded. The biggest change after the start of the pandemic was that synchronous virtual care (where the physician and patient are interacting in real-time, using video or phone calls) became part of what was publicly funded across the country.
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Healthy Debate
May 28, 2023
‘Slipping through the cracks’: Post-secondary students with mental-health disabilities struggle to find help – Healthy Debate [2023-05-29]
Despite the increased availability of resources to tackle the student mental-health crisis across Canadian universities, three in four post-secondary students are unaware of how to access campus mental-health resources.
Undergraduate students voice that there is a disconnect between what is available to students with mental-health disabilities and their knowledge of their rights and resources, preventing them from utilizing accessibility services.
Of those registered with accessibility services at the University of Toronto, mental-health disabilities are more prevalent than all other disabilities combined, according to an emailed statement from the school.
Despite this, students often have little time for conversations with their accessibility department to learn how to navigate within academics, says Jeanette Parsons, director of the Accessible Learning Centre at Wilfrid Laurier University. “Maybe some additional resources could be added,” she says.
Some students may not be aware of the rights they have, for example privacy around the nature of their specific medical conditions. After she was asked by a professor why she required accommodations, a University of Toronto student says, “I didn’t feel like I was in a place where I could say that I’m not comfortable sharing (that information) and still have access to my accommodations.
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Healthy Debate
May 29, 2023
Why You Shouldn’t Call the Police on an Unhoused Person (and What to Do Instead) – Lifehacker [2023-05-26]
People think we’ve got the market cornered on houselessness here in Portland, Ore., but traveling across Idaho, Utah, and Arizona this winter helped confirm that this is not a uniquely West Coast Thing; it’s endemic. Houseless folks make people anxious, which explains how housed people often react. They made me anxious, too, when someone camped on my sidewalk for the first time. My anxiousness embarrassed me, so I became curious where it came from.
That curiosity led me to a series of experiences trying to help people who were experiencing houselessness, working with mutual aid agencies, government services, and nonprofits. I don’t have all the answers, but I have developed personal policies that help guide my actions now. They are imperfect, and always evolving, but here’s what I’ve learned along the way.
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Lifehacker
May 26, 2023
