Government funding of mental health services in Nova Scotia

From a June 1st, 2010, PowerPoint presentation made by the Nova Scotia Department of Health:


Please click on the image to magnify it.

Sources of Revenue for Nonprofit Mental Health and Addictions Organizations in Canada

The abstract of an article published in the October 2010 edition of Psychiatric Services:

By Carissa Escober-Doran, B.S.N., M.P.A., Philip Jacobs, D.Phil., C.M.A. and Carolyn Dewa, M.P.H., Ph.D.

Ms. Escober-Doran and Dr. Jacobs are affiliated with the Institute of Health Economics, 10405 Jasper Ave., Suite 1200, Edmonton, Alberta T5J 3N4, Canada (e-mail: escober@ualberta.ca). Dr. Dewa is with the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Ontario.


OBJECTIVE:

In Canada charitable or nonprofit organizations provide government-contracted mental health and addictions services, and they augment government funding by raising charitable revenues. This study estimated by source the revenues of nonprofit mental health and addictions organizations in Canada.

METHODS:

A list of nonprofit, service-providing organizations in Canada was developed, financial returns to the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) in 2007 were obtained, and data were analyzed in aggregate.

RESULTS:

Information was obtained from 369 Canadian organizations, which had $915.4 million (Canadian dollars [CAD]) in total revenues: 85% were from the government, 4% were from charitable giving, and 11% were from other sources.

CONCLUSIONS:

The ratio of charitable giving to government funding of mental health care was about 0.55% ($35 million to $6.3 billion CAD). This charitable giving level cannot compensate for the relatively low levels of total government mental health spending identified in government reports.

Posting of this abstract is for the purposes of research into funding of nonprofit mental health organizations.

'SEE-ing' the difference: evaluation shows that $167 million investment improves Ontario's community mental health system, but many still in need

A news release from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH):

TORONTO, June 10 /CNW/ - Can $167 million in provincial funding make a difference to Ontario's community mental health system? According to the results from the Systems Enhancement Evaluation Initiative (SEEI), the answer is yes. Ontarians now have access to more appropriate community mental health services. But, the research also highlights the system's limited resources to serve all those in need.

Led by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH)'s Dr. Paula Goering [pictured], SEEI is the culmination of nine research studies that explored the system impact of $167 million of new community mental health funding in Ontario. As Dr. Goering explains, this report is an installment in the ongoing dialogue about what we can do to enhance the community mental health system's ability to meet the needs of those living with mental illness.

The results showed that:

• Access to services improved, with many early intervention and court support services able to double the number of people served, and more clients were matched with the level of care they required.

• Programs are reaching people earlier, as young people are getting help at an earlier stage of their illness.

• Clients experienced a range of positive outcomes such as lower relapse rates in use of hospital resources for those in early intervention programs, and rates of homelessness and the severity of symptoms were reduced for clients in the Ottawa court support program.

However, the data showed that our health system has a limited capacity to serve all those in need, particularly clients who need intensive or daily community level support. Also, clients experienced a lack of other support services, particularly in the areas of housing and vocational training. At the regional level, one of the highest areas of unmet needs for clients was a lack of access to dental, social and vocational services.

"It's important to remember that formal health care services and systems are only part of the picture," says Dr. Goering. "As the results show, the larger society in which the community health system is located has a profound influence on the lives of those who seek help."

The SEEI partner organizations are:

• Canadian Mental Health Association, Ontario
• Centre for Addiction and Mental Health
• Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care
• Ontario Federation of Community Mental Health and Addiction Programs
• Ontario Mental Health Foundation
  

For more information on what happened and what differences we can see as a result of this substantial investment in Ontario's community mental health system, visit Moving in the Right Direction for a copy of the SEEI final report [PDF].

The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) is Canada's largest mental health and addiction teaching hospital, as well as one of the world's leading research centres in the area of addiction and mental health. CAMH combines clinical care, research, education, policy development, prevention and health promotion to help transform the lives of people affected by mental health and addiction issues.

For further information:

Media contact: Michael Torres, CAMH Media Relations, at (416) 595-6015

Photograph courtesy of the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health.