Lakehead Pursues Mental Health Initiative with Funding from the Bell Let’s Talk Community Fund
THUNDER BAY, ON – Today in the Lakehead University Agora, the Department of Psychology announced that Bell’s Let’s Talk Community Fund has provided funding for a study to assess the feasibility of a psychology clinic located at Lakehead’s Thunder Bay campus.
According to the World Health Organization, mental illness is the leading cause of disability in Canada, the U.S., and Western Europe. One in five Canadians will experience a mental illness in their lifetime. Yet only one-third of those who need mental health services in Canada actually receive them, often due to the stigma associated with mental illness or because they simply do not have access to programs in their community.
Lakehead professor Dr. Josephine Tan has been working to establish the clinic and says, “This feasibility study funding will allow us to carry out a market assessment to determine how the clinic can be best developed over different phases to complement existing mental health services in this region. We are very grateful to Bell’s Let’s Talk Community Fund for giving us the funds we need to engage the Northwestern Ontario Innovation Centre to assist us in a study that will also develop a sustainable operating model and budget.”
Dr. Lori Livingston, Lakehead’s Dean of Health and Behavioural Sciences, believes the clinic is “an important step for the Department of Psychology and will be real asset to the University, community, and region.”
Establishment of a psychology clinic at Lakehead will support the healthcare system in Thunder Bay and Northern Ontario in a number of ways. The clinic will help train competent professional psychologists in evidence-based clinical services and research, and extend existing mental health care services in the community. By offering professional development opportunities for health professionals, the clinic will also improve the retention rate of clinical psychologists in Northern Ontario. The clinic can contribute to research initiatives and collaborations, including those initiated by individuals or communities outside of the University.
In addition, a campus-based psychology clinic can assist the Lakehead University Student Health and Counselling Centre to provide services for students, a need which has been increasing in number and complexity across many post-secondary institutions. Collaborations with First Nations health agencies for the delivery of mental health services will also be pursued.
The Lakehead University Psychology Clinic Study is funded through the Bell Let’s Talk Community Fund, part of the Bell Mental Health Initiative. The project received a grant for $12,200.
“We at Bell are extremely pleased to lend our support to the Lakehead University Psychology Clinic and the almost 50 other community organizations across the country that are part of the Bell Let’s Talk Community Fund’s first year,” said Mary Deacon, Chair of the Bell Mental Health Initiative. “These groups are truly making a difference at the grassroots level. We’re very proud that, through grants from our Community Fund, we will be helping them to provide much needed resources to enhance mental health services and programs for those affected by mental illness.”
Lakehead Psychology student Liane Kandler is working toward her Doctoral degree in Clinical Psychology and fully supports a campus psychology clinic: “An on-campus clinic will provide ample opportunities for quality training and supervised clinical services. This in turn will help to promote academic excellence, enrich the overall student experience, and increase access to mental health resources in the community.”
The Bell Mental Health Initiative is a multi-year charitable program that promotes mental health across Canada via the Bell Let’s Talk anti-stigma campaign and support for community care, research, and workplace best practices. To learn more, please visit Bell.ca/LetsTalk.
Lakehead is a comprehensive university with a reputation for a multidisciplinary teaching approach that emphasizes collaborative learning and independent critical thinking. Over 8,280 students and 2,000 faculty and staff learn and work at campuses located in Orillia, and Thunder Bay, Ontario, which is home to the west campus of the Northern Ontario School of Medicine. Lakehead University promotes innovative research that supports local and regional socio-economic needs. In Orillia, development continues on building a campus that meets Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®) standards. For more information about Lakehead University, visit www.lakeheadu.ca.
