What Career Practitioners Need to Know: Supporting Clients with Mental Health Challenges, Cannexus 2013

What Career Practitioners Need to Know:Supporting clients with mental health challenges

NEXT STEPSNeasa Martin & Kathy McKee

Cannexus 2013 Conference, January 28th, 2013, Ottawa, ON

Cannexus Jan. 28th 2013 Charting the Course, Neasa Martin & Kathy McKee 2

Project Partners CERIC - funder NSCDA - project sponsor N.S. province-wide approach

Kathy McKee Manager Career Resource Centre Career Practitioner Board NSCDA Chair Career Managers Network NS Project management

Neasa Martin Charting the Course researcher 30 yrs mental health experience Rehabilitation medicine 10 years as consultant Focus on stigma, discrimination, peer support,

recovery & social inclusion


Project’s Roots Numbers of clients presenting with mental health issues, disclosure.

Do ‘they’ belong?

Are Career Practitioner attitudes (stigma) a barrier?

Transformational research:Shared research on stigma, surveys, regional meetings, roundtables…

What do we need to know to provide effective services?


What did we find?Contact is common - disclosure is not. No ‘them” & “us”. Mental health problems affects many - including CPs. Disclosure tied to acceptance / perceived advantage. Impact of mhp huge (confidence, finances, employment, socially). Career Practitioners need to know about: stigma, mental illness, treatment, legal rights & entitlements, resources,

peer support, coaching, recovery, supporting employers. CP rate current knowledge & skills higher than their clients do. CP not great at: sharing tools for work, supporting mh client, LESS likely to

refer mh clients for training. CP satisfaction working with clients high - so are frustrations. Stigma & discrimination common in services, policies & community. Clients report it as more common. CP with mhp feel its sting. Major barrier to employment.


Findings cont. CP & mental health clients agree: Work is important, recovery is possible, don’t need to be symptom free. No less reliable employees. May need accommodations. Clients face multiple barriers - poverty, housing, transportation, health issues… Internal barriers - insight, illness management, self stigma, loss of hope.

What is critical to CP / client relationship: Attitudes: Choice, inclusion, see capacity, trust, respect, fairness, privacy, hope,

compassion. Focus on work not illness. Knowledge: mh & support services, accommodations. Skills in assessment, motivating and coaching re: employment

Service-level policy barriers: Policies limit CPs, service structures (mh clients referred on), funding models, time

constraints, creating service partnerships.

System issues: Limited mh services, narrow focus, disability funding model, siloed services.


Identified Training Needs

Stigma & social inclusion How & when to refer to services -

focused on employment. Legal rights & accommodations. Managing disclosure + / -. Assessment tools, motivation & adult

learning tools. Coaching, recovery concepts. Peer support & role in employment. Ways to support employers. Labour market trends & opportunities. Promoting mentally health workplaces.


Preferred Training ApproachesMake training accessible ($, access) Mental Health First Aid. Joint training with mental health professionals. Consumer-led workshops. Mentorship to reinforce learning. Case-based teaching. Workplace seminars. Prof. development workshops. Print/web materials for clients.

NSCDA take the lead. Take a lead on training. Promote co-ordination of services & systems. Advocate gov. for policies & funding practices

that remove barriers & improve employment. Tools to support employers - accommodations. Recommend inclusion in National CP

Guidelines.

Changing attitudes• Personal contact

• Education

• Protest

Changing training, policies & practices

Cannexus Jan. 28th 2013 Charting the Course, Neasa Martin & Kathy McKee

Take away learning

Change required: Individual level. Workplace practices. Community level. Whole-government approach

to social inclusion.

Next steps: CERIC Grant for training. Bell Foundation grant for MHF

focused on CPs.


theindividual

theorganization

thecommunity

thesociety

It started with -What is wrong with people?

And then became – What is wrong with us?

What are my issues? How do I feel about these

clients? What have I been

taught? What are my values

about who “deserves” my time?


theindividual

Disclosure. Understanding.

‘compassion fatigue’. Knowing when to refer. How’s your mental

health? What if we talked to

clients directly about challenges?

Peer support.


theorganization

Mental health stream @ conference.

Discrimination. What are services called

and who provides them. Lack of knowledge of what

services exist. Competition for funding.


thecommunity

How do policies handcuff CPs from providing the best services.

Do we value differences. Do we allow discrimination

in the form of sub-par services.


thesociety

If change doesn’t occur with the individual it is difficult to make organizational, community or societal change.


Discussion…. How do our findings align

with your experience?

What are your learning needs? Preferred approach?

Are there partnership opportunities?

Recommendations?

Cannexus Jan. 28th 2013 Charting the Course, Neasa Martin & Kathy McKee 16http://chartingthecourse.nscda.

Health & Medicine

What Career Practitioners Need to Know: Supporting Clients with Mental Health Challenges, Cannexus 2013