As the subject of giving priority to mental health takes center stage, the province of Manitoba is leading by example. The minister responsible for women, Cathy Cox, announced that they would be investing $2.4 million in two separate clinics in the province on 4th November. They are the Klinic and the Laurel Centre.
This investment will provide ready access to mental health and reduce the wait times faced by the citizens. The steps included in the proposed move include walk-in services for mental health issues and specialized trauma counselling in the two clinics.
What benefit will this investment entail?
The multi-million dollar project will be used over the course of three years. Klinic, in particular, will have a case drop-in counselling program. The program is expected to be eight hours of every week as well as a long-term counselling program. This will raise the number of patients to 80 as opposed to the current 70 patients at the clinic.
A major chunk of the funding is also going to be used for a centralized trauma service at Klinic. This service will be made available seven days a week. At the Laurel Centre, the funding is projected to be used in hiring therapists.
As more and more studies are made, and cases are explored, experts in the medical field are finding an intricate link between childhood trauma and the quality of life. It is no secret that those who had experienced such traumatic events like domestic violence and sexual abuse but did not get the help they needed to recover bear significant loss to the society later on.
On the other hand, individuals who had the right help and overcame their childhood trauma went on to lead meaning and productive lives.
Inclusion of trauma centres and additional hiring of therapists will not only reduce the waiting list by a significant number. The improved services will also reach a wider audience who are in need of immediate help while experiencing various forms of trauma and mental health issues.
This impressive move by the administrators and lawmakers was based on recommendations of various reports to enhance and improve support for people undergoing trauma. One of the most notable of these reports is the VIRGO report.
Future plans
Apart from this recent development, the minister also hinted on more plans to introduce services for addictions as well as mental health. Up to 12 new initiatives and programs are expected to be announced by Christmas.
