Join Canada's most comprehensive forum on the science behind cannabis, its potential therapeutic benefits and the societal and health impacts of legalization of non-medical cannabis with leading researchers and physicians in the field. Learn about the latest research on special topics in: Medical Cannabis and Therapeutic Targets Harm Reduction and Public Health Implications of Cannabis Legalization Visit the conference webpage for more information and to register.Read More...

The National Newcomer Navigation Network is hosting a webinar on the legacy of black experiences in healthcare in Canada. It will be presented by Dr. Dorothy Williams, an historian who specializes in Black Canadian history . Wednesday, Feb 24 1:00 pm EST This webinar aims to: provide an historical overview of health experiences in the black Canadian population describe cultural health care disparities encountered among Canadians of black heritage Audience: healthcare and settlement...Read More...

The Canadian Public Health Association's Cannabis and Public Health Forum will be held virtually on June 16-17, 2021. Oral and poster abstracts and symposium submissions are invited. The deadline is March 25. View the call for submissions for more information.Read More...

Leading the way in mental health training and education Dust off winter and spring into 15% savings with SickKids CCMH Learning Institute . Register now for any of our April mental health training and education webinars for professionals and SAVE 15%. Use promo code Spring - hurry offer only available until Feb. 28! Applicable to new registrations only, cannot be combined with other discounts or promotions, promo code Spring valid until Feb. 28, 2021 on April webinars only. Find full details...Read More...

Join us for a panel discussion on March 10, 2021 Meet the panel/Event description: https://moodlemedia.camhx.ca/Digital/basics/VMHCL-PDFs/VMHCL%20Discussion%20Series%204.pdf Cost: Free Online registration required/To register: https://bit.ly/3pON3csRead More...

Today, on National Human Trafficking Awareness Day, the government of Ontario introduced the Combatting Human Trafficking Act , new legislation and amendments to existing legislation that propose to better protect victims, support survivors and crack down on offenders. Click here to read the press release. To learn more about human trafficking in Ontario, how it's connected to issues of mental health and addiction, and what service providers can do to help identify and support victims of...Read More...

Register here: https://teach.camhx.ca/moodle/course/view.php?id=57 Course dates: February 24, 2021 – March 24, 2021 About the Course: This self-directed module will provide learners with the opportunity to increase their knowledge about concurrent cannabis and tobacco use through a focus on individual and system-level impacts. Learners will be able to screen for concurrent use and design treatment plans using a client-centered, and biopsychosocial approach. They will also acquire the skills,...Read More...

Your not-for-profit organization may be eligible for up to $15,000 in the next fiscal year to provide culturally and linguistically appropriate problem gambling awareness and/or counseling services for immigrants, refugees, and ethnocultural communities. Please visit our website to learn more. Apply by March 12, 2021Read More...

New Program to Support Homeless Shelters and Community Residential Substance Use Facilities LTC+ Acting on Pandemic Learning Together is expanding to support organizations dedicated to caring for people experiencing homelessness and/or substance use. The program is a collaboration between the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction and the newly amalgamated organization that brings together the Canadian Foundation for Healthcare Improvement and Canadian Patient Safety Institute, with...Read More...

Check out this new Infographic! Adolescent psychiatric disorders during the COVID-19 pandemic The infographic is also available on the EENet website in English and French This infographic is based on the article, “Adolescent psychiatric disorders during the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown” by Guessoum et al. published in Psychiatry Research. 2020. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2020.113264 .Read More...

This survey is designed to learn about your experiences as a worker during a pandemic. This survey is a repeat of the survey originally launched in April/May 2020. Things have changed since this first survey, so we thought it would be wise to re-launch the survey again during this second wave of the pandemic. The survey was put together by the Occupational Health Clinics for Ontario Workers (OHCOW), with help from researchers at the Institute of Work & Health and Duke University in North...Read More...

When children are experiencing anxiety start by listening and acknowledge the child's fear. Help them work through the fear by showing continuous encouragement and support. Remain calm in your body language and tone trying to talk through the anxiety with the child. Help them to problem solve and work through what they might do in the worst-case scenario. Lastly, role model healthy ways of dealing with anxiety by showing them how you yourself cope when you are feeling anxious. ...Read More...

Do you work with young people? Do you have a trusting relationship with the youth you work with? Then, you are the best person to talk with youth about cannabis! Two new videos from the Cannabis Knowledge Exchange Hub will help you better understand youth cannabis use and learn how to talk with youth about cannabis . For more resources related to non-medical cannabis, visit the Cannabis Knowledge Exchange Hub .Read More...

Request for Proposals (RFP) Opportunity: Question of Care Workshop Developer A Question of Care (QoC) has been awarded funding to develop and implement two courses on drinking beyond the recommended limits. We are seeking proposals from workshop developers to design two interactive, engaging training sessions for QoC in collaboration with People With Lived Experience. You can learn more and apply for this opportunity here: https://ca.indeed.com/viewjob?...535057879.1610657710Read More...

What do you like about EENet Connect? What annoys you about it? By providing us with your feedback, you can help us make the platform more useful and easier to use. The deadline for completing the survey is March 12th, so we hope to hear from you soon! The link to the survey is: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/SC8FGCZRead More...

Submit an abstract for an e-poster presentation or Ignite Talk for the 10th Annual E-Mental Health Conference: Virtual Care in Times of Crisis and Beyond on March 3rd and 4th , 2021. Submission deadline: February 15th, 2021 (11:59 pm EST). Event dates: March 3rd and 4th, 2021 Submit your abstract: https://acdresearch.med.ubc.ca/10th-annual-e-mental-health-conference-abstract-submission/ This interactive virtual event will provide opportunities for development, networking and engaging...Read More...

Tina Minkowitz, Esq. of the Center for the Human Rights of Users and Survivors of Psychiatry http://www.chrusp.org/ in this article frames the initiative through a reparations approach and includes a call for sharing the experience. It also helps us to think more about current practices of institutionalization despite all of our intentions on community based care. I know many groups in Ontario have been working to shine a light on this, even in recent years, in the context of homelessness...Read More...

Widening digital participation in digital health and virtual mental health care Date/time: Tuesday, February 16, 2021 from 11:30 a.m.–1:00 p.m. EST Cost: Free Register here : https://bit.ly/35AkZ5i Additional information: https://moodlemedia.camhx.ca/Digital/basics/VMHCL-PDFs/VMHCL%20Discussion%20Series%202.pdf https://moodlemedia.camhx.ca/Digital/basics/VMHCL-PDFs/VMHCL%20Discussion%20Series.pdfRead More...

What is this research about? Persons with serious mental illness (SMI) are more likely than those without SMI to be charged with a criminal offense. They are often incarcerated for minor offenses such as crimes of poverty, offenses related to substance use or minor offenses against judicial orders. These repeated brief incarcerations disrupt access to community services such as housing, income support or access to psychiatric care. A portion of this group also experience rapid and frequent...Read More...

The Provincial System Support Program (PSSP) at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) has launched a new report titled 'Our voice is being lost': What people with lived experience are saying about equity & human rights responses to COVID-19. This resource was developed by PSSP's Persons with Lived Experience and Family Advisory Panel, with the Equity & Engagement and Knowledge Exchange teams. The intended audience is public health planners, policy analysts, service...Read More...

On January 28, 2021, EENet presented a webinar that provided: mental health highlights from the 2019 Ontario Student Drug Use and Health Survey (OSDUHS) context on the current mental health experiences of students in Ontario and Canada in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. Watch the webinar recording and download the slides (PDF) — Please note that sections of this resource were created by a third party. While we are pleased to share this resource with you, we cannot guarantee its...Read More...

Today is Bell Let’s Talk day. This is Canada’s largest corporate initiative dedicated to mental health. Here are the support grants offered by this initiative that you could apply to right now: Post-Secondary Fund Eligibility Publicly funded Canadian post-secondary institutions that are taking action to begin the research and planning that will assist with the implementation of the Standard are eligible for Kickoff Grants. Criteria The Post-Secondary Fund Kickoff Grant supports initiatives...Read More...

Accountability & Responsibility in a Digital World for Teens and Parents This session is intended for parents and students in Grade 7 and up Join us for an evening to talk about the digital world for teens and parents. For nearly three decades, Paul Davis advised executives on a variety of information technology issues. He is now presenting to parents and children about the potential dangers of social networking. Paul will cover the following: Social Media, Smartphones, Apps, Passwords,...Read More...

Update: There are only a few days left to participate — please consider completing our survey if you haven't already! At St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto, we have launched a national online survey study to gain insight into mental health care users' and providers' experiences of transitioning from in-person to remote care (phone or video) during the COVID-19 pandemic. We are looking to hear from two groups of people: Health care users: People aged 18+ across Canada who have been offered a...Read More...

Hello! We recently invited members of the Gambling, Gaming and Technology Use Virtual Forum to join the Gambling, Gaming & Technology Use Community of Interest (COI) . In case you are one of those folks who recently joined EENet Connect, we want to make sure you find yourself in the right place! This link will take you to the Gambling, Gaming & Technology Use subgroup. Once you're there, click the red "Join This Subgroup" button in the top right hand corner. We look forward to...Read More...

It has been more than two years since Canada became the first G20 country to legalize recreational cannabis and cannabis products. The Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction (CCSA) is supporting research on non-therapeutic cannabis and the impacts of its legalization on public health and safety across the country. Through financial support from Health Canada, CCSA is funding 19 projects on subjects ranging from cannabis legalization and mental health to a comparison of legal versus...Read More...

The Public Health Agency of Canada has released its December 2020 report on opioid and stimulant-related harms, including data through June 2020. There were 1,628 opioid-related deaths between April and June of 2020. This is a 58% increase compared to January to March 2020. It is also the highest quarterly count since national surveillance began. Access the full report here .Read More...

In Nov. of 2020, Canada Health Infoway published findings from consultations they conducted in partnership with Environics Research on Canadians' perception of digital health. The consultations were done via survey, polls, focus groups, and interviews. Over 50 000 Canadians participated, including people who are underserved by the healthcare system and indigenous people. Some key findings: Nearly 70% of those who sought medical care during the COVID-19 pandemic used virtual care. 91% of...Read More...

17 year old doesn't like school, doesn't know where he wants to go in life, unmotivated. A service on the West side of Mississauga preferred, as he will likely need to continue after the pandemic and might prefer in-person or group therapy then. Affordable service preferred. Any suggestions? Please email.Read More...

The Canadian Cannabis Survey 2020 results are now available on the Health Canada website. New questions added this year included questions about exposure to second-hand smoke, frequency of obtaining cannabis from legal vs. illegal sources, and changes in cannabis use in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.Read More...

CBC GoPublic broadcasted on 2021/01/17 a story about a bipolar man's experience in a Toronto hospital. I link it to here because I believe stigma and discrimination is a huge area that mental health community must put more effort in. Stigma is rooted in discrimination. Only our society truly eliminate discrimination against mental disability, the stigma will not effectively go away. The link to CBC's story: https://www.cbc.ca/news/gopubl...al-illness-1.5871307 ...Read More...

This Communications Toolkit was prepared by the Northern Addictions Task Team, a sub-group of the MHA Pandemic Response Committee of the OH North Pandemic Regional Steering Committee. It was developed for Health Service Providers (HSPs) across the north. The Toolkit provides the opportunity for HSPs to adapt resources to suit their individual community needs, embed information on where to access services, and utilize resource templates such as posters and suggested social media posts to...Read More...

The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) wants to understand how COVID-19 has affected access to services for HIV, hepatitis C and other sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections (STBBI); drug treatment services; and harm reduction services. If you identify as a person who uses drugs or alcohol and are 18 years or older, you are eligible to participate in this survey. Click here to participate. The survey is open until February 5. For more information, please contact the survey team...Read More...

Coursera is offering its well-rated Foundations of Mindfulness course from Rice University free of charge "This course provides a broad overview of the fundamental concepts, principles, and practices of mindfulness. With interactive exercises to help students explore their own attitudes, mental habits and behaviors, Foundations of Mindfulness offers a pathway for living with more freedom, authenticity and ease. Featured components of the course include experiential exercises, guided...Read More...

Hi All: My late son and I are featured in this Halton article that was front page news in all of the Halton newspapers on Thursday. Pete died 19 years ago of his opioid overdose (Dec 23 2001). He was only 25 years old. As you can tell from the picture, my grief, loss, trauma and pain is still quite noticeable in my eyes. My heart is still broken. I believe my grief and loss is growing because every time I hear of another overdose my heart shatters again for the loss of another person, and...Read More...

A report by Ontario’s leading experts on housing, justice, and mental health and addictions outlines how existing supportive housing could more effectively meet the needs of justice-involved individuals and reduce strain on the health and justice systems. The Provincial Human Services and Justice Coordinating Committee (P-HSJCC) released the report, Housing and justice report: Improving supportive housing for justice-involved individuals with mental health and addiction issues , on December...Read More...

The impact of physical distancing guidelines on people at risk for suicide is unknown but concerning. Enforced isolation may increase risk of suicide, and many coping strategies in standard suicide safety plans could increase risk of COVID-19 infection or violate public health orders. In an article published recently, researchers present a number of recommendations for modifying standard suicide safety plans in response to COVID-19. Read our Research Viewpoints summary here, in English or in...Read More...

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Fourth International Housing First conference has been postponed and will now take place virtually in 2021. As we plan for this virtual conference, we would like to know your preferred topics, formats, and dates. Results will be used by the planning committee to tailor the virtual conference for an international housing first audience. Please complete this survey by January 21, 2021 . This conference is hosted by the Ontario Housing First Regional Network...Read More...

For knowledge translation purposes I would like to post my recently completed thesis which focuses on cannabis policy and older adult (55+) use of cannabis for therapeutic purposes from a critical realist perspective (qualitative research). Link: https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/etd/7541/Read More...

Take 45 minutes to pause and think about our systems of care with the talk’s sharp focus on the intervention itself. The discussion got me thinking of: the recovery model; our categories of who fits into what program of care; mental health care’s forms of intervention; and what ever happened to the Mental Health Commission’s Recommendations and its whole system, whole country recommendations guide? The “fireside chat,” helps us step into a “new year,” and made me want to know more about the...Read More...

Hello! We recently invited members of the Gambling Issues International Yahoo Group to join the Gambling, Gaming & Technology Use Community of Interest (COI) . In case you are one of those folks who recently joined EENet Connect as part of this migration, we want to make sure you find yourself in the right place! This link will take you to the Gambling, Gaming & Technology Use subgroup. Once you're there, click the red "Join This Subgroup" button in the top right hand corner. We look...Read More...

What you need to know There is a lack of empirical evidence on the impacts of climate change to mental health. This may be due to the challenges of directly linking mental health outcomes to climate change consequences. Preliminary evidence shows that the risks and impacts of climate change on mental health are already accelerating, resulting in direct, indirect, and overarching effects that disproportionally affect populations already facing health inequities. To address the mental health...Read More...

Ontario's Auditor General released her 2020 Annual Report and concludes that the Ministry and the Ontario Telemedicine Network "do not have effective systems and procedures in place to meet Ontarian's needs in a cost-effective manner." She comments that since the province responded hastily to the demands of COVID-19, Ontario is without a long-term strategy for virtual care expansion. This report highlights the need for a comprehensive framework for virtual care in Ontario, that will meet the...Read More...

In the early 1980's here in Ontario child welfare legislation was developed to address the genocidal systemic racist activities of Children's Aid Societies, "the sixties scoop," and earlier legacy of Residential Schools on First Nations People. Customary Care was the core component of the Child and Family Services Act to address this and has been amended over the decades since. These efforts to address the system level perpetuation of our everyday racism and destruction of Indigenous Peoples...Read More...

Hi not sure where to post this, but does anyone know of an article that discusses how gamblers prefer a quick fix for their problems.Read More...

Recent studies based on crowdsourced data identified some of the negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on Indigenous people compared to the rest of the population. A report, titled “Perceptions of Safety of Indigenous People During the COVID-19 Pandemic,” provides an overview of the perceptions of safety of Indigenous people related to the pandemic. Researchers analyzed information gathered through two crowdsourcing initiatives in April and May, 2020. A total of 2,800 First Nations,...Read More...

This new policy brief explores the potential impact of COVID-19 on mental health and suicide rates, provides insight into which potential risk and protective factors to monitor, and highlights the existing opportunities to influence these trends. The policy brief highlights the importance of advocating for the continued expansion of universal supports, adequate funding to maintain and enhance mental health and substance use services, and amplified monitoring and research to better understand...Read More...

The Lancet Psychiatry published on 2020/10/21 " Neuroinflammation in psychiatric disorders: PET imaging and promising new targets ". This review says that the images show neuroinflammation in psychiatric disorders, including major depressive disorder.Read More...

International Human Rights Day is observed every year on December 10 — the anniversary of the day the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. Available in more than 500 languages , it is the most translated document in the world. The theme for Human Rights Day 2020 is "Recover Better - Stand Up for Human Rights," emphasizing the importance of ensuring human rights are central in COVID-19 recovery efforts. This day serves as a useful reminder...Read More...

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and public health measures put in place to reduce transmission have likely affected people who use opioids and other illicit substances. Reasons for this include potential changes in the supply of these substances and in support systems for people who use them. A McMaster University team prepared a rapid review to identify, appraise and summarize emerging research to support evidence-informed decision-making. It includes evidence available up to September...Read More...