Safe Communities Intentional Injury Sub Group Meeting Notes

January 12th, 2009

Location: Port Colborne Hospital Board Room

Time: 10:00am – 11:15am

In Attendance:

  • Debbie MacCulloch (Bridges Community Health Centre)
  • Susan Marshall (Shoppers Drug Mart)
  • Lori Kleinsmith (PC/W Healthy Lifestyles)
  • Darcy Hemauer (PC/W Healthy Lifestyles)
  • Kim Gillespie (PC/W Healthy Lifestyles)
  • Dave Pickett (Niagara Child and Youth Services)
  • Lori Smith (Port Colborne resident)
  • Scott Johnson (Port Cares)
  • Judy Cassan (Port Cares)
  • Kathy Moccio (Lakeshore Catholic)

Meeting Notes:

  • Defining the purpose of our sub-committee is a very important step for us as we are tackling a complex and sensitive area. By taking proactive measures to address our injury prevention priority we hope to be able to be in a better position to deal with issues effectively when they arise rather than simply reacting to them.
  • Lori provided an overview of the final proposal submitted by Every Kid in Our Community (in partnership with Safe Communities Port Colborne, Community Living PC/W, and Brock University Community Health Sciences) to the Provincial Centre of Excellence in Child and Youth Mental Health for their annual Community Mobilization Award. The project goal is to use community mobilization and youth engagement to address behaviours related to help seeking avoidance for a distressing personal problem. A “project team” will need to be formed, consisting of recruited youth, a paid youth engagement coordinator, and representatives from Every Kid in Our Community and Safe Communities Port Colborne Intentional Harm Sub-Committee. The youth on the project team will be engaged in discussion to define their own “distressing personal problems”, “reasons for avoiding of delay seeking help, and how to create youth-friendly solutions to begin to address the issues. Community partners will be called upon to assist with knowledge transfer, skill building, promotion, etc. of the solutions to be created by the project team (i.e. further mental health education, multi-media skills, theatre work, advocacy – whatever the team identifies). We should know the status if the grant application by April. If we are not successful, our committee would still like to explore options for how to create a project such as this, further grants opps can be explored, more in-kind support, etc. In the meantime, a small steering committee will need to be formed to begin working on background materials needed for the project, such as a parental consent form, job description/hiring process for the youth engagement coordinator, start up ideas and materials for the project, etc. If you are interested, please let Lori know!
  • A lengthy discussion was held around different levels of mental health services and what is available for our residents, particularly children and youth. While ensuring the public is made better aware of what services they can access for mental health services, we must also be aware of the views many people have about our area’s mental health services and their perceptions about wait times, reluctance to admitting they have a problem/seeking treatment, etc. Scott mentioned some highlights discussed at a regional community meeting last week addressing children and youth mental health services – we must continue to encourage people of all ages to talk about mental health/break down the stigma/seek help early, etc., look for opportunities to provide parent courses to help parents and caregivers gain skills
  • Other project ideas for our sub-committee include:

1)The creation of small card with contact information for those seeking assistance for a mental health condition or a distressing personal problem (i.e. Where Do I Start?) – will be placed in a variety of venues around the city, such as local business, City Hall, social service agencies, schools, water/hydro bills, etc. Port Cares created a “Blue Card” with this type of information a few years ago and we may be able to simply update their card and reprint. We must ensure we

2)A local human interest “success story” covered in the media (i.e. someone from Port Colborne who has had success in overcoming a mental health condition who is comfortable describing their story)

3)Provide support for the Talking About Mental Illness (TAMI) Project, coming to Niagara in 2009 through a Trillium grant, coordinated by CMHA, CAMH, etc. (look for ways we can support and enhance this in Port Colborne)

4)A button wearing campaign using the phrase “1 in 5” – this signifies that 1 in 5 or 20% of our population has some form of mental illness. These buttons are meant to increase awareness of this fact and to encourage people to talk more openly about mental illness, “normalize” it. A follow up story in the media would accompany, as well as a suitable response/background info for button wearers when asked the significance of “1 in 5” – more work will be required to determine the logistics of such a campaign

Action Steps:

  • The next meeting will be held on Monday, February 9th, 10:00-11:30am, Port Colborne Hospital Board Room
  • Lori, Darcy, and Kim will work on the first draft of our sub-committee’s action plan for inclusion in the Safe Communities designation package using the standard template being designed for all sub-committees – this plan will guide our activities over the next fiscal year. The first draft will be reviewed at the February 9th meeting and we must submit our final plans to the Safe Communities Port Colborne Leadership Table by Tuesday, February 17th.
  • Judy will bring a copy of the “Blue Card” for review
  • A small steering committee is required to provide guidance for the youth help seeking project – please let Lori know if you are interested in helping out – would like this finalized by the next meeting.
  • It would be beneficial for our sub-committee to have a local physician we can consult with as we move forward – local physicians are an important part of the direction we are headed and we will want to find ways to include them in our projects; however, most are too busy to attend our meetings in person – if anyone has a suggestion for a suitable local doctor to approach whom we could ask to be a “consultant” for our sub-committee, please let Lori know (Dr. Remington has been mentioned)