The Mental Health Association of Canada estimates that one in five Canadians will experience a mental health challenge. The full impact of mental health issues is even broader. At some point almost every Canadian adult has either been directly affected or has a friend or colleague or a family member with a mental health issue.
Approximately $50 billion is spent on economic and mental health issue, which the Canadian government incur annually. Across Canada some examples of the overburdened health-care system are family doctors’ shortage, emergency rooms over capacity with periodic closures due to low staff numbers and long wait times for surgeries. Compared to physical health care, mental health care can be further delayed. Always its not about illness, its about wellness. Wellness is “Multidimensional”, often viewed as comprising eight elements. Social. Emotional, occupational, spiritual, environmental, physical, intellectual and financial. A reduction of any of these elements can decrease quality of life and wellbeing.
The Canadian government, defines mental health as “The state of your psychological and emotional wellbeing. Universities are about research and education. Unfortunately access to such can be limited to individuals who have money to pay for higher education and pre-requisites. Leaving out a large segment of the population. However, if the wellness research is delivered in an accessible format which is affordable, everyone can benefit from it. Universities are well positioned not only to create knowledge but to broker knowledge.
Delivering information, on science based- wellness to the general public. In December 2020, the mental health and well-being research and training Hub (MeWeRTH) was launched at Carleton university. The director was Joanna Pozzulo and administrator was Anna Stone. Their mission was to mobilize knowledge to improve daily life.
Four wellness courses were offed, that were advertised to the broader local community. The benefits of nature on our wellbeing, parenting your child / teen with ADHD, exploring the psychology of solitude and maintaining wellness amid chronic illness.
Courses consisted of 12 hours of instructions in a span of 6 weeks. In real time using a virtual platform with no pre-requisites. To cover the administrative expense, cost per course was $200 per individual. It was limited to 20 individuals per course to facilitate discussion and engagement with the material.
The courses can be prohibitive which comprises of an on-going struggle in finding this type of education. Further research is required to understand the relationship that exist between well-being and mental health.
