For organizations looking for a way to manage the impact of mental illness in their workplace, the Global Business and Economic Roundtable on Addiction and Mental Health, suggests two things: educate and advocate. First create an atmosphere that is conducive to openness and understanding. Secondly, institute programs and education sessions in the workplace.

At the forefront of the evolving best practices are commercial realtors Cushman and Wakefield LePage (Canada), the Centre of Excellence for Mental Health and Youth at the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) in Ottawa, and the SunLife Financial Chair in Adolescent Health at Dalhousie University in Halifax.

LePage has volunteered to take part in a pilot project to assess the needs of parents with mentally ill children. Study participants were separated into three groups: action, information, and overwhelmed. Those in the action group wanted help with behavioural or emotional problems, aimed to develop their advocacy skills. They wanted help, too, with lowering the stress and guilt associated with their child’s problems.

Parents in the information group preferred brief written materials to help them understand, rather than solve, the problem. Those in the overwhelmed group said their family functioning was impaired and had high parental-depression scores. People in this group didn’t want support or information, leading researchers to believe depression may be an issue, since it leads to negative thinking. And a parent’s issue can compound a child’s problems.    

The Cushman and Wakefield LePage study researchers are Halifax-based Dr. Stan Kutcher, the SunLife chair and a leading expert in adolescent mental health, and Drs. Simon Davidson and Ian Manion at CHEO. The study will start with focus groups to find out what type of information would be useful, and to determine the most effective ways to deliver that information. Researchers will then develop and disseminate the information, with evaluations before and after to follow up on usefulness.

In the meantime? Dr. Kutcher says to call him. Seriously. “If we can improve outcomes for kids through the workplace, then we should do it.”

Dr. Kutcher can be reached at 902-470-6582.