Strengthening Families Together: Kentville

Ongoing!

FREE!

Do you have a relative or friend with a serious mental illness?

Would you like to learn more about his or her illness?

Delivered by family members who have direct experience with the psychiatric illness of a loved one, and enhanced by invited speakers with topical expertise, Strengthening Families Together is a Canadian-based educational program for families and friends which provides information, skill-building, and support. The program is FREE and open to all family members and friends of those living with a serious mental illness.

You will learn about:

• Early intervention and recovery
• Treatments and supports
• Coping with challenges of daily living
• Navigating the mental health system
• The importance of taking care of yourself, too

The Kings County Chapter of the SSNS will deliver Strengthening Families Together at the CMHA Kings County Branch office, 49 Cornwallis Street, Suite 109, Kentville, Nova Scotia, beginning on Tuesday, March 16th, from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm, and continuing for nine consecutive weeks.

For an outline of the Strengthening Families Together program, please click here.

Registration

To register for this 10-week session of Strengthening Families Together, please contact Pat at (902) 678-8458 or Penni at (902) 678-1229.

Quotes from participants of previous Strengthening Families Together sessions:

“I would like to say thank you so very much for taking the time and effort to have this program on Thursday nights. It has been a wonderful experience and I am sad to see it end.”

“This has been a blessing to me. I am very satisfied with my experience with the group, and my understanding of the health care options and support available to us has greatly increased. I would highly recommend Strengthening Families Together to any who will listen! Thanks.”

“Some solid strategies and ideas on how to help our son.”

“I feel this program is a wonderful launching pad; it equips us to participate in community events and gives us connections to others who are equally passionate about understanding mental illness. It’s a valuable resource.”

Strengthening Families Together (SFT) Online Project

The Schizophrenia Society of Ontario has posted a series of videos adapted from the Strengthening Families Together (SFT) program developed by the Schizophrenia Society of Canada. To view the videos, please click here.




In-person delivery of SFT by the Halifax Chapter of the Schizophrenia Society of Nova Scotia will resume in the fall of 2009 in both Halifax and Windsor. To register for either of these 10-week SFT sessions, please contact contact Donna Methot at (902) 462-8658 or send an email to hrmchapterssns@accesswave.ca.

Information sessions, self-help groups provide timely support

An article posted on March 11th by The Kings County Advertiser:

Kings County Chapter of the Schizophrenia Society of Nova Scotia board members Pat MacLean (left) and Margaret Burton are raising awareness of an information program and a self-help group in our community dedicated to offering support to the family members and friends of people living with mental illnesses. Photograph by Kirk Starratt.

By Kirk Starratt

Sometimes dealing with a mental illness can make you feel isolated or leave you wondering where to turn for support.

Recognizing a need to share information, provide support and help debunk the myths and stigma associated with mental illness, the Kings County Chapter of the Schizophrenia Society of Nova Scotia is offering a 10-session information program and a self-help group to reach out to affected members of the community.

“We’re concerned about the fact that families often are the key caregivers to someone with a serious mental illness,” board member Pat MacLean said. “It’s not always easy to get the information they need.”

Because of this, the society has launched the information program, called “Strengthening Families Together”. It’s free to attend and is geared toward family members and friends of people experiencing serious mental illnesses. The sessions are being held at the offices of the Kings County Branch of the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) in Kentville. The first will be held Tuesday evening, March 24 at 7 p.m. and each runs for two hours.

The sessions will provide information about mental illnesses, skill-building and support. Participants will learn about early intervention and recovery, treatments and supports, coping with challenges of daily living, navigating the mental health system and the importance of taking care of one’s self.

‘Not talking about a few people here’

MacLean said it’s important to reach the general public with information on what is available in terms of supports and services.

“We’re not talking about a few people here,” she said. “A lot of people have serious mental illnesses.”

There are about 600 people in Kings County living with schizophrenia, about 600 living with bipolar condition and about 1,000 living with depression. However, because of the stigma, people often remain quiet and don’t seek help.

Board member Margaret Burton said that one in five people will experience mental illness at some point in life and the numbers are much higher when you consider how many people will be affected indirectly. She said that, as a society, they see three components to their work: advocacy, education and support.

She said her family took the “Strengthening Families Together” program and recognized a need for ongoing support for family members and friends of those living with mental illness.

This past fall, a group of family members from within the society formed a self-help group. All the members are people who have been touched directly or indirectly by mental illness.

Burton said families need information about mental illness and about the services that may be available to them. They need help in coping over the long-term with the illness and its consequences, including acquiring skills for problem solving, conflict resolution and stress management.

Confidentiality a must

They need support to be able to cope with the challenges of caring for someone with a mental illness as well as to be able to address their own emotional needs.

As with other self-help groups, confidentiality is a must. Meetings take place once a month at the CMHA offices in Kentville.

If you or someone you know might be interested in the information sessions or the self-help group, call the Schizophrenia Society of Nova Scotia toll-free at 1-800-465-2601 for more information or visit www.blog.ssns.ca.

The society believes there is a greater need for understanding among members of the general public in order to overcome the myths and stigma associated with mental illness. They extend thanks to the Kings CMHA for providing their facilities for the information program and the self-help group.

Schizophrenia is a complex brain illness that affects one per cent of the general population and can be particularly devastating to young people. The Federal Kirby Report of May 2006, “Out of the Shadows at Last”, states that family members play an essential, sometimes lifesaving, role in caring for persons living with mental illnesses.

Almost 60 per cent of the families of people living with serious mental illnesses are estimated to serve in the capacity of primary caregiver, usually with little guidance, support, relief or respite.

Families 'fail' on schizophrenia

An article posted today by BBC News:

People with schizophrenia are more likely to experience discrimination by those closest to them than by employers or officials, a global survey suggests.

Nearly half of the 730 respondents to the King's College, London, study reported negative treatment by relatives and friends after diagnosis.

About a third said they had encountered problems when seeking or keeping a job.

Writing in the Lancet, the authors said they saw a remarkable consistency in those surveyed in 27 countries.

To read the entire article, click here.

Also see:

Global pattern of experienced and anticipated discrimination against people with schizophrenia: a cross-sectional survey

People With Schizophrenia Say Bias Is Part of Their Lives

Strengthening Families Together

Completion: Strengthening Families Together - Halifax

Participants and facilitators celebrate completion of Strengthening Families Together in Halifax on March 27th, 2008. The next ten-week session of Strengthening Families Together begins at 6:00 pm on Thursday, April 17th, 2008, at Cole Harbour Place in Dartmouth (click here for more information).

Click on the photograph to enlarge it.

Delivery of Strengthening Families Together by the SSNS is conducted in collaboration with Capital District Community Mental Health Services and is supported by an unrestricted educational grant from AstraZeneca Canada, and funding from Mental Health Services, Nova Scotia Department of Health.

Photograph by Dachia Joudrey.

BMO Donates $10,000 to Strengthening Families Together Program

For Immediate Release:
December 21, 2007

VANCOUVER, BC - In their ongoing involvement in community initiatives, BMO Bank of Montreal has donated $10,000 to the BC Schizophrenia Society’s Strengthening Families Together education and support program. The Strengthening Families Together program gives families who have a mental illness the tools and coping skills to help them help their ill family member. It also provides an opportunity for families to share their feelings and find support in other people going through similar circumstances.

“BMO Bank of Montreal is pleased to provide a donation of $10,000 towards the BC Schizophrenia Society’s “Strengthening Families Together Education Program”, said Wayne Hashimoto, Personal Banking Area Manager for BMO in Richmond and Delta.

“We are especially pleased that these funds will be used to help reach families who are challenged by this serious mental illness through a 10-week education course at locations throughout the province”, added Mr. Hashimoto.

The mission of the BC Schizophrenia Society (BCSS) is to improve the quality of life for people affected by schizophrenia and psychosis through education, support programs, public policy, and research. Schizophrenia affects 40,000 BC residents and costs Canadians an estimated seven billion dollars a year.

“It has been shown time and time again that when there is a strong support system from family members of a mentally ill person, the individuals chances of recovery are significantly improved. This generous funding from BMO Bank Of Montreal will help ensure that families have the education and support programs in place to help them support their loved one and also let them know they are not alone,” commented the Society’s Executive Director, Gary Glacken.

For more information on schizophrenia, psychosis, or BC Schizophrenia Society’s programs and services, please visit www.bcss.org.

Contact
Nadine Saunders, Director of Development & Marketing; (604) 270-7841, Ext. 28