The University of Waterloo’s Centre for Mental Health Research (CMHR) has expanded its range of mental health care for the local community with a specialized assessment service for veterans, members of the Canadian Armed Forces and RCMP. The service was created by an important new partnership with Parkwood Institute’s Operational Stress Injury Clinic (OSIC) part of St. Joseph’s Health Care London (St. Joseph’s).
This
week
UWaterloo
held
the
official
opening
ceremony
of
the
Operational
Stress
Injury
(OSI)
service
with
distinguished
visiting
guests
including
Dr.
Cyd
Courchesne,
director
general
of
health
professionals
and
national
medical
officer
of
the
Department
of
Veterans
Affairs,
Heather
Tales,
director
of
the
Veterans
Care
Program
at
St.
Joseph’s,
and
Michael
Newcombe,
OSISS
peer
support
coordinator
for
Southwestern
Ontario
and
director
of
casualty
support
management,
for
the
Department
of
National
Defense
-
and
a
veteran
himself.
Through this relationship with St. Joseph’s, the CMHR provides veterans and active members of the Canadian Armed Forces and the RCMP with a comprehensive mental health assessment, a vital first step in supporting those with potential operational stress injury. The service is provided by Dr. Shannon Gifford, a senior member of the OSI clinical team at St. Joseph’s and adjunct faculty member in Psychology here at UWaterloo. Dr. Gifford also supervises PhD candidate in Clinical Psychology, Brenda Chiang, and Waterloo Region Psychology Consortium Resident, Yue Zhao, who currently conduct the assessments. The CMHR plans to offer more student clinicians the opportunity to train in the OSI service.
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is one example of several persistent psychological difficulties otherwise known as operational stress injuries (OSI) that military and RCMP personnel can develop as a result of duties performed during their service. Others include major depressive disorder, substance abuse, general anxiety and difficulty adjusting to civilian life.
“We know from decades of research that PTSD tends to develop into a chronic condition that rarely gets better on its own without effective psychological treatment,” said Professor David Moscovitch, executive director of CMHR. “Providing culturally aware, evidence-based assessment services through the CMHR will allow access to these assessments closer to home for those in our region who are struggling with service-related psychological injury.”
At the OSI launch this week, Dr. Courchesne delivered a keynote address. “Mental health is of the utmost importance to Veterans Affairs,” she told the audience that included members of the Department of Psychology, partners from St. Joseph’s, Waterloo President Feridun Hamdullahpur and Dean of Arts, Douglas Peers.
What is significant about this partnership is that we can now bring education into the equation of care, which is a very important enabler.” - Dr. Cyd Courchesne
The launch ceremony also featured a talk by Ms. Tales of St. Joseph’s in which she outlined the history of OSI services in Canada and shared the story of a veteran who felt his life was saved by the support he received at St. Joseph’s. “Students who participate in this practicum will learn about the culture of the Canadian Armed Forces and the RCMP and develop expertise in the assessment of operational stress injuries,” said Ms. Tales. “We hope they will find this work stimulating and rewarding and incorporate the lessons learned into their future clinical practice.”
Since 2007 the number of Canadian veterans diagnosed with PTSD has almost tripled, creating an increased need for mental health services to aid their recovery.
by Wendy Philpott