Mental health, addiction and suicide prevention standards introduced in Canada
An Ottawa-based nonprofit that helped develop Canada’s long-term care standards now wants to create national guidelines for mental health treatment, addiction and suicide prevention.
The Health Standards Organization says it is responding to the increasing use of illicit substances in a country where nearly 4,000 people die by suicide each year.
Spokeswoman Kaye Phillips says the goal of the HSO is to improve care throughout people’s lives, provide greater support for their families and meet the needs of diverse populations, including youth and indigenous communities. Consultations on the process started in 2017.
Phillips says health worker wellbeing is a focus of the standards, which will be adopted by Accreditation Canada next year.
About 1,500 organizations, including hospitals and social care institutions such as treatment centers, are customers of that program.
The federal government is also developing national standards on the same issues, and the standards introduced today are intended to serve as a foundation for them before Canada introduces a three-digit suicide prevention hotline in November.
This report from The Canadian Press was first published on June 20, 2023.
Canadian Press health coverage is supported by a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. CP is solely responsible for this content.
