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NUNAVUT
Iqaluit's old boarding home is getting a $2.4-million facelift so it can be used as a mental health facility, according to Peter Ma, deputy minister of health and social services.

Peter Ma, the deputy minister of health and social services, reacted to the national mental health strategy in Iqaluit on May 16. - Jeanne Gagnon/NNSL photo

The home will be renovated so it can accept more day patients and provide mental health programs and services.

This announcement comes after the Mental Health Commission of Canada released its 156-page mental health strategy titled "Changing Directions, Changing Lives" earlier this month, after five years of consultations. More funding to address mental health, improve living in conditions in the North and addressing the gaps in services are some of the recommendations in the report.

"I don't think there is anything we would not support at this point in time," Ma said about the strategy. "It would be good if the federal government threw some monies behind it to support the strategy but we do have to give them credit for initiating that particular strategy."

He said his department is developing a framework for a territorial mental mental action plan. He said said mental health is a priority for his department, and added the 28-day residential addictions treatment pilot program in Cambridge Bay will now likely start in September as opposed to June, the original target.

To address the chronic shortage of mental health professionals, housing and other incentives should be provided to attract them to come North and stay, the report states. It adds Inuit should be trained to provide the services within their communities. Improving living conditions, establishing funding to reflect the realities of providing services in the North and increasing the use of tele-health are also recommended in the report.

"Programs developed in cities in the south cannot simply be transferred to Northern and remote places and be expected to work," states the report. "Communities should have access to funding and support to develop, implement and evaluate their own solutions to addressing the mental health needs of their communities."

Federal Health Minister and Nunavut MP Leona Aglukkaq stated: "The work of the commission is already shaping decision-making in Ottawa concerning health research and initiatives."

The report examines the issues through six viewpoints – promotion and prevention; recovery and rights; access to services; disparities and diversity; First Nations, Inuit and Metis; leadership and collaborations. It makes six recommendations, such a need to provide the right combination of treatments, services and supports to people and reduce the gap in risk factors and mental health services.

Inuit need access to a culturally appropriate services, treatments and support with both a modern and traditional approach, states the report. It states a continued mental health and substance abuse services for and by Inuit, including both traditional and modern approaches, should be established.

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