People First Media program archive
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Mental health, citizenship, and inclusion

June 2nd, 2011 | Posted by pfmarchive in uncategorized - (Comments Off on Mental health, citizenship, and inclusion)

A group of people diagnosed with schizophrenia conducted research about housing and its impacts on mental health

The struggle for housing stability is among the many challenges faced by people with schizophrenia. That struggle was the focus of a participatory action research project led by professor Barbara Schneider at the University of Calgary.

Participatory research involves members of a community group in meaningful participation in all stages of the research process, including developing the research question, gathering the data, analyzing the data, and disseminating and using the results. (more…)

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Campaign to connect the dots

June 2nd, 2011 | Posted by pfmarchive in uncategorized - (0 Comments)

Jean Oliver is working to highlight the gaps in mental health services by organizing an event that will ‘connect the dots’

Victoria resident Jean Oliver is planning an awareness event that will see 1,200 volunteers stand on white dots that stretch from the B.C. Legislature building to the Royal Jubilee Hospital on September 10th, 2011. She wants to raise awareness of gaps in mental health services within the capital region—on World Suicide Prevention Day. Jean borrowed the idea from a rally held in New Brunswick last December.

Jean struggled for years to get mental health help for herself and her children. She told the Victoria Times Colonist that to say that services are inadequate is being kind…“the services don’t exist.” (more…)

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On smoking and mental illness

May 26th, 2011 | Posted by pfmarchive in uncategorized - (Comments Off on On smoking and mental illness)

A look at the ethics of smoking bans in psychiatric facilities and the dynamics of a consumer-driven stop-smoking program 

According to the World Health Report 2001, people with psychiatric illnesses are about twice as likely to smoke as others; those with schizophrenia and alcohol dependence are particularly likely to be heavy smokers, with rates as high as 86%. A 2000 study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that individuals with psychiatric illnesses had a smoking rate of 41% compared with 22.5% in the general population, and estimated that 44% of all cigarettes smoked in the United States are consumed by people with psychiatric illnesses. (more…)

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Medical marijuana laws struck down

May 19th, 2011 | Posted by pfmarchive in uncategorized - (Comments Off on Medical marijuana laws struck down)

Judge notes overwhelming, undermining refusal of doctors to participate in Canada’s medical marijuana program

On April 11, 2011, a ruling by an Ontario judge struck down Canada’s medical marijuana laws and the laws dealing with cannabis possession and production, giving the government 90 days to fix the program. The ruling stemmed from the constitutional challenge of Matthew Mernagh, a man who relies on medical marijuana to ease pain brought on by fibromyalgia, scoliosis, seizures and depression. (more…)

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Dentists to volunteer at new clinic

April 7th, 2011 | Posted by pfmarchive in uncategorized - (Comments Off on Dentists to volunteer at new clinic)

Community dental clinic in Nanaimo will provide dental care for people with low incomes

A group called Community Organized Dental Clinic, working with Volunteer Nanaimo, is about to open a dental clinic for people in the city who aren’t able to afford dental care. The group initially received a grant from the City of Nanaimo’s Social Planning Advisory Committee and it then worked with volunteer tradespeople to prepare a space for the clinic at 489 Wallace Street. The clinic, which was two and a half years in the planning and making, now has four volunteer dentists, but seeks additional dentists as well as other volunteers to schedule appointments and help with bookkeeping. (more…)

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Psychiatric meds and health problems

February 10th, 2011 | Posted by pfmarchive in uncategorized - (Comments Off on Psychiatric meds and health problems)

People using psychiatric medications can experience greater physical health problems

Linda Chamberlain knows eight people with mental illness who have recently died and she says that medications and nutritional issues are to blame. “Some of these medications are giving people diabetes,” she recently told the Toronto Star newspaper. Ten years ago Linda was taking seven medications to deal with her own mental illness, was overweight, and had developed diabetes. Linda made changes in her life and she now leads workshops on exercise and healthy living at a community health centre in Toronto. (more…)

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