We've revived an old EENet Connect feature: Regular interviews with different people doing interesting work in Ontario's mental health and addiction system!

This month's 'A Day in the Life of...' features Narrandes, a Knowledge Translation Specialist at CAMH.  Read our interview with Renira below...

Hi all:

We received an interesting question from the Frayme network that I would love your input on:

With the pivot to online services from in-person, there has been a need to address policies and protocols for identifying immediate risk and keeping youth safe during the virtual intake and clinical screening process.What crisis response policies do services have in place to address a situation where a youth indicates thoughts of self-harm/suicidal ideation via text/email in advance of an appointment and particularly outside of business hours?

A report titled Gambling and Gaming During COVID-19: Prevalence, Implications and Strategies to Stay Safe provides an overview of the impacts of COVID-19 on the gambling and video gaming sectors.

The report shows more individuals are participating in online gambling despite the closure of physical gambling spaces. It also shows an increase in the amount of time spent and the number of people playing video games.

Mental Health has a broad and socially woven meaning depending upon where you sit.  I work with people who have needed extended support to address and manage the disability of a mental illness. These are people who in their personal history need the most intensive levels of support from hospitals or community-based levels of mental health care.

September 2020 marks the 9th World Alzheimer’s Month

World Alzheimer’s Day takes place every year on the 21st of September. It is an international campaign that aims to raise awareness and highlight challenges faced by people affected by dementia.

Alzheimer’s is a type of dementia that affects a person’s memory, thinking and behaviour. Alzheimer-related dementia can be severe enough that it interferes with a person’s daily life and activities.

Every year suicide claims the lives of 800,000 people worldwide -- 4,000 of whom are in Canada. Though this is a difficult topic for many, there is work we can do to change this.  

For instance, today CAMH launched a new campaign: Not suicide. Not today. Check out the campaign video here. 

"No one walks alone, we walk with you," the -Virtual Art in Strathcona Park,  (Ottawa, but hey ... it's VIRTUAL)

The mandate of the Cannabis Knowledge Exchange Hub is to share evidence about the non-medical use of cannabis.

But what exactly is “non-medical” use of cannabis, and how do we differentiate it from “medical” use? This question is one to which our team returns time and time again.

One way to view the distinction is whether the cannabis is prescribed by a health care provider and accessed through the medical cannabis system.

The Cannabis Knowledge Exchange Hub at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) in collaboration with the Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario's (RNAO), will be continuing to deliver a virtual knowledge exchange webinar series to support nurses and other health-care professionals across sectors working with clients and communities who have an interest in cannabis.

Many people who use drugs such as opioids and stimulants also use cannabis.

New research from BC suggests that cannabis use may serve a wide range of purposes for these people, including recreation, reducing cravings for other drugs or mitigating withdrawal from other drugs.