February 10, 2021 (Toronto) —The following list outlines 22 actions to decrease anti-Black racism at CAMH by 2022.
Result 1: For Patients and Families
Care for Black patients and families that is safe, accessible and equitable
Priority Area 1.1: Develop a system that can provide direct care and equitable outcomes for Black patients and families.
1. CAMH will assess its digital platforms and outreach, including Access CAMH, and develop a plan to promote equitable access to services. The launch of an enhanced referral management system in 2021–22 will be a key component of this plan.
2. CAMH will develop a model of service improvement for Black patients based on the Equity-Based Response Training pilot on its forensic units.
Priority Area 1.2: Enhance existing services to ensure they are successful for Black patients and families.
3. CAMH will train staff in culturally adapted CBT and increase access to culturally adapted CBT at CAMH.
4. All managers will take the Immigrant and Refugee Mental Health Course funded by Immigrant, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).
5. CAMH will increase the staffing of SAPACCY to four full-time clinical staff and a manager.
Priority Area 1.3: Review and revise clinical processes to reflect current best practices in delivering care to Black populations.
6. CAMH will conduct a review to identify and analyze clinical processes where improvement and change is needed to better meet the needs of Black populations.
Result 2: For Staff
An equitable working environment for Black staff
Priority Area 2.1: Ensure a safe working environment at CAMH free from all forms of violence.
7. CAMH will develop a process to identify horizontal violence and other forms of racism, and to document and report incident rates.
8. CAMH’s Horizontal Violence, Anti-Racism, Anti Oppression Working Group will develop a work plan to eliminate anti-Black racism through initiatives at CAMH.
9. CAMH will develop a support system for Black staff and a mechanism for confidential reporting of racist incidents.
Priority Area 2.2: Improve the recruitment, retention and progression of Black staff at CAMH.
10. CAMH will develop, implement and monitor a plan to improve the recruitment, retention and progression of Black physicians, staff, students and trainees.
11. CAMH will collect socio-demographic data on staff and will use this to measure progress on the diversity of its workforce and equality and inclusivity of its recruitment, retention and talent development practices.
Priority Area 2.3: Develop, deploy and ensure uptake of training courses for staff and leadership that build capacity to create a better workplace environment for Black staff and care for Black patients.
12. Staff will be trained in anti-Black racism, equity and cultural safety.
Result 3: For CAMH
A mental health system, inside and outside CAMH, which aims to eliminate unfair treatment for Black populations
Priority Area 3.1: CAMH will use its voice as a health system leader to help ensure equitable access to and improved outcomes of mental health treatment for Black populations.
13. CAMH will use its voice to advocate for better social conditions for Black populations in order to decrease the risk of mental illness and improve recovery rates.
14. CAMH will work with the Ontario Ministry of Health and Ontario Health to ensure equitable access to and uptake of appropriate structured psychotherapy for Ontario’s Black populations.
15. CAMH will work with the Ontario Ministry of Health and the Mental Health and Addictions Centre of Excellence to ensure equitable access to and uptake of new child mental health services for Black populations.
16. CAMH will work with the Ontario Ministry of Health to develop mental health funding models that better meet the needs of Black populations in Ontario.
17. CAMH will work with the Ontario Ministry of Health and Ontario Health to secure funding for a community network of services similar to SAPACCY.
Priority Area 3.2: CAMH will strengthen existing community partnerships and develop new meaningful relationships with organizations serving Black populations.
18. CAMH will support the Black Health Alliance to implement Ontario-wide initiatives to improve pathways to care for Black populations.
19. CAMH will develop partnerships to help identify opportunities to streamline access to care including to improve clinical, education and information supports for primary and secondary care organizations whose work focuses on Black populations. These relationships will be modelled on the successful partnership with WHIWH-CHC.
Priority Area 3.3: CAMH will develop, disseminate and implement best practices for research and data collection on mental health in Black populations.
20. CAMH will report annually on the outcomes of care for Black people receiving treatment at the hospital.
21. CAMH will develop protocols to ensure that data collection and interpretation of data are grounded in evidence-based community principles.
22. Research at CAMH will develop and implement a plan to improve research on Black mental health, including how it will build its research capacity; train all staff on the impact of anti-Black racism on research design and methods; improve the quality of its research; and clearly articulate its accountability and governance of socio-demographic data.
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About The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH)
CAMH is Canada's largest mental health and addiction teaching hospital and a world leading research centre in this field. CAMH combines clinical care, research, education, policy development and health promotion to help transform the lives of people affected by mental illness and addiction. CAMH is fully affiliated with the University of Toronto, and is a Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization Collaborating Centre. For more information, please follow @CAMHnews on Twitter.
For further information:
Hayley Chazan
Manager, Media Strategy
hayley.chazan@camh.ca