Remarks delivered by Louise Bradley
President and CEO of the Mental Health Commission of Canada
November 25, 2014
Global Crisis of Depression Summit Kings Place, London UK
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Good Afternoon.
Mental health is getting its rightful place on the public policy agenda – and is a topic open for discussion at the boardroom table.
While I come to you from the Mental Health Commission of Canada, I believe no matter where we live, we share many of the same goals.
At the Commission, we are a non-profit organization charged with transforming the Canadian mental health landscape through partnerships and collaborations.
Today, I am going to speak to you, specifically, about our work with the business community.
But before I do, I would like to take a moment to congratulate the Economist and Lundbeck for convening this impressive forum.
As a leading business publication, the Economist is uniquely placed to help change stigmatizing attitudes that persist around mental health.
In fact, our research tells us that reaching out to the media, and supporting positive, responsible reporting, is an important way to combat stigma.
In an effort to assist the media, the Commission worked with the Canadian Journalism Forum on Violence and Trauma, to create the Mindset Media Guide.
Written by journalists, for journalists, it is fast becoming the go-to document to help members of the media report responsibly and accurately about mental health issues.
Over the years, I have worked in many different health care settings. And I have seen just how difficult it is to change workplace culture – especially ones that are psychologically unhealthy.
The good news is, each of you is in a position to affect change.
In fact, we each have a responsibility
I think we can all agree a mentally fit workforce is essential to the health of today’s knowledge-based economy.
And there is a hunger among the business community to address this pressing social policy issue.
That is what the Commission has done with the creation of the National Standard for Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace.
The Standard, as it’s commonly known, is the first of its kind…in the world.
Je pense que nous pouvons tous nous entendre sur le fait qu’un milieu de travail sain favorise la bonne santé mentale. De même que la bonne santé mentale des travailleurs est essentielle à la santé de l’économie actuelle basée sur le savoir.
Il y aussi une soif de réagir parmi les entreprises face à cet enjeu social d’importance.
C’est ce qu’a fait la Commission en élaborant la Norme nationale du Canada sur la santé et la sécurité psychologiques en milieu de travail.
Cette norme est la première en son genre au monde.
It’s a voluntary set of guidelines, tools and resources focused on promoting employees’
psychological health and preventing psychological harm due to workplace factors.
It can be adopted no matter where you work: in an office, as a first-responder, in a power plant.
We’ve seen its application across sectors: from telecommunications and finance, to education and police services.
The Standard aims to enhance productivity, boost recruitment and retention, and improve risk management and financial performance.
It is also crucially important to reducing the stigma that so often compounds mental health concerns.
Like many great ideas, the Standard has really taken on a life of its own.
It has piqued the interest of 15 countries.
We have seen uptake in Australia, as well as interest from the American Psychological Association, and the National Institute for Psychological Safety and Health in the United States.
The desire for this knowledge is so strong that I’ve been be asked to address audiences from New Zealand to Beijing.
In each instance, the Standard, and our work to support it, was a hot topic.
To tell you the truth, I knew we were onto something when our first Webinar on the Standard crashed the system.
We had to cap registration at 1,000 participants.
That was almost two years ago. Since then, more than 21,000 copies have been downloaded. Of course it’s free – so that helps.
But in all seriousness, we are convinced that it works.
However, we know – particularly in dealing with the business community – that we can’t just tell you it works.
We need to show you.
So, in an effort to do just that we’ve undertaken a case study – with 42 employers, big and small, across Canada.
Some may be familiar names – like Rogers Communications, Enbridge Inc. and Bell Canada. Others are smaller, local companies.
The case study itself is a model of public-private collaboration. The funding comes from government and from committed private sector partners.
The aim of the study is to identify challenges, barriers and best practices, as well as costs and benefits associated with the Standard.
The metrics of the Case Study Project are four-fold.
We are looking at the steps employers are taking on the path to implementation.
We are evaluating employee feedback.
We are monitoring the costs associated with implementation – for example, salaries, programs, materials, consultations, etc.
And, finally, we are assessing changes observed in performance indicators – like absenteeism, presenteeism, turnover, benefit utilization, disability rates, incident reports and so on.
So far, the findings look promising.
For example, Bell Canada, an early adopter of the Standard, has seen a 92 percent increase in the use of its Family Assistance Program.
Bell has also seen 12 percent fewer disability claims.
Essentially, the Standard is central to prevention and early detection – which are keys to successful recovery.
Of course, these goals are only possible in an environment where the topic of mental health is open for discussion.
If workers fear that the admission of a mental health challenge may limit their career, they are more likely to stay silent.
This has to be addressed if we are to reduce short and long-term disability, which are the leading cause of disability claims in Canada.
Essentiellement, la Norme est la base à la prévention et à la détection précoce, qui assurent la réussite du rétablissement.
Bien entendu, ces objectifs ne peuvent être atteints que dans les milieux où l’on est ouvert aux discussions sur la santé mentale.
Les employés qui refusent d’avouer qu’ils ont un problème de santé mentale, parce qu’ils craignent de se voir imposer des limites dans leur carrière, sont plus susceptibles de garder le silence.
Nous devons réagir si on veut réduire le nombre de congés de maladie à court et à long terme qui constituent la principale cause de réclamations au Canada.
That is why the business community has welcomed the development of the Standard with such enthusiasm.
And while the feedback has been very positive, we have also listened to those organizations that want to move forward with implementation, but can’t seem to figure out where to start.
Of course, that isn’t too surprising. Undertaking organizational change isn’t easy.
I can attest to this, personally, as the CEO of an organization that is on the road to implementation.
Our journey hasn’t been without bumps. And, like any organization, we’ve had to overcome challenges.
So, in response to concerns we were hearing, we partnered with the Canadian Standards Association (CSA) Group, to produce an easy to use, plainly written guidebook.
In fact, it’s being released in Canada today.
It is our hope that this resource, titled Assembling the Pieces, will give employers some clear direction about how to get started.
The first step on the road to change is always the hardest.
Cela ne s’est pas fait sans difficultés. Comme tout autre organisme, nous avons dû surmonter des défis.
En réponse aux inquiétudes formulées, nous avons aussi établi un partenariat avec l’Association canadienne de normalisation (CSA) pour produire un guide pratique, facile à utiliser et
clairement écrit.
Au Canada, le lancement officiel de ce guide a lieu aujourd’hui.
Nous espérons que ce document intitulé Une étape à la fois, fournira aux employeurs les outils nécessaires pour mettre les choses en place.
La première étape vers le changement est toujours la plus difficile à franchir.
But a brighter future for mental health must acknowledge the crucial role the workplace has to play.
And I am pleased that so many of you have taken the time to learn more about what that journey can look like.
Thank you.
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