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Pulling together after tragedies
Myles Dolphin
Northern News Services
Published Monday, June 3, 2013
PANNIQTUUQ/PANGNIRTUNG
Nunavut's mental health-care services are reaching out to help communities deal with tragedy, said Monita O'Connor, assistant deputy minister of operations for the Nunavut Department of Health and Social Services.
O'Connor spoke to News/North following a tumultuous period for Nunavummiut, particularly Pangnirtung residents. The deaths of a young girl and her grandmother have shaken up the hamlet and O'Connor believes it's important for communities to come together and open up in times like these.
"One of the factors over the past few years is that people haven't talked about this," she said.
"When incidents such as these come up, it's important for people to feel like they can share and certainly our mental health team will reach out to the families and offer support."
O'Connor said the department's main focus is on reducing the number of incidents and trauma resulting from suicide.
She said increases in mental health workers and response to issues that happen in communities are in the works.
She praised officials in Pangnirtung, where the population is only 1,500, who reacted quickly to the events and organized a community feast, held on May 27.
"The community is responding and coming together," she said.
Peter Evic, recreation co-ordinator in Pangnirtung, said the feasts are always beneficial to communities.
"A lot of people will show up to these events," he said.
Thirty four people took their lives in Nunavut in 2011 and the suicide rate from 2000-2007 was approximately four to nine times higher than in other Canadian territories and provinces, according to Statistics Canada.
O'Connor said departmental support begins with the mental health team offering help to the individual, and then working with communities to organize events to bring people together.
"Our goal is to reach out to the community and help them express their issues and concerns," she said.
"Our team tries to make coping mechanisms available and open up dialogue."
The department has also supported the development of the Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST) workshop, designed to train people who want to feel more comfortable in helping to prevent the risk of suicide.
On May 7, Premier Eva Aariak announced the program would be offered to teachers in all Nunavut communities over the next two to three years.
Resources may be available but they need to be better-trained, according to Sheila Levy, executive director of the Nunavut Kamatsiaqtut Help Line. The service, run entirely by a group of 65 volunteers, provides suicide prevention and intervention every night of the year.
They've been serving Nunavummiut since 1990.
"We need more people who are trained in these areas," she said. "Some people come in and do training but it doesn't work out. It has to be culturally appropriate and relevant for the group that is being targeted."
She recently concluded another training session where participants used examples from their own experiences.
"There are a lot of good people out there willing to help," she said.
The Kamatsiaqtut help line is (867) 979-3333 or toll-free at 1-800-265-3333.
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