Covid-19 illuminates inadequate mental health support in Canada

The NPC Healthbiz Weekly is back to inform you through 2021. It's your weekly briefing on topics pertinent to healthcare marketers and executives published in cooperation with Peak Pharma Solutions. From Chronicle Companies, organizers of the National Pharmaceutical Congress Winter Webinar Feb. 10, 2021. More info at pharmacongress.info 

⇒ Issue #159 (In numerology, 159 signifies the end of certain phases in your life, and the beginning of new experiences)
⇒ Confirmed Covid cases in Canada as of 01/29: 770,427*
⇒ Confirmed Covid fatalities in Canada as of 01/29: 19,659*
⇒ Number of Canadians vaccinated as of 01/29: 916,027*
⇒ Worldwide Covid cases as of 01/29: 101,567,466*
⇒ Worldwide Covid fatalities as of 01/29: 2,193,577*

January 29, 2021—TGIF and welcome to the weekend edition of the CurveFlattener. It's Kylie Rebernik at the desk this morning. We have almost made it through another month of lockdown, and all I can think is: “After one year of this s***, what have we learned? Where are we going?” Coincidently, this is also the theme of Chronicle’s upcoming National Pharmaceutical Congress Winter Webinar. You can register for the free event here. 

In all seriousness, this is a question that I think about often: What have we learned from Covid-19? What has the pandemic shown us? Yesterday was #BellLet’sTalk day, a campaign devoted to raising awareness about mental health, an issue that has been further magnified by Covid-19, especially in remote and rural communities where access to support is more difficult. 

On January 23, 2021, Inuit Tapirit Kanatami (ITK) president Natan Obed took part in a virtual panel that discussed mental health in diverse communities, specifically Inuit communities. The panel was moderated by Dr. Jane Philpott, former federal Minister of Health and Minister of Indigenous Services Canada, and included Dr. Myrna Lashley, McGill University, Dr. Kenneth Fung, a staff psychiatrist at Toronto Western Hospital, Asante Haughton, humans rights activist for mental health and its connections to racism. Each panellist highlighted how mental and physical health problems have been brought to light in Black, Indigenous and People of Colour (BIPOC) communities across Canada because of Covid-19. According to the group's president, Natan Obed, public health guidelines have not taken into account the multigenerational homes the exist in the Inuit communities, often creating feelings of distress when people cannot follow exiting public health guidelines about social distancing. He also added that the lack of resources in Inuit communities have either caused people to travel to larger communities for basic care or causes people to “get stuck” with no resources for help. 

Covid-19 has also caused mental health distress among children, teens and teachers. This according to a new national health study, conducted by Mental Health Research Canada. In a recent interview with CTV News, Dr. David Dozois, a psychology professor at Western Univerity and board member of Mental Health Research Canada said “teachers, in particular, are experiencing a high level of anxiety. Since our earlier polls, we’ve found that anxiety increased from about five to 25 percent.” A driving factor of this anxiety is due to the sudden switch to virtual learning. For parents with young children at home, the study found that 26 per cent of them said that supporting their children in school work at home has had a negative impact on their mental health. 

So this brings me back to my question, what have we learned from the pandemic? The pandemic, in my opinion, has highlighted the need to find better and more innovative systems that better support BIPOC communities across Canada. 

The NPC Podcast is back for another season. The National Pharmaceutical Congress organizers are proud to release our new weekly podcast series, hosted by Peter Brenders. Next Wednesday, Feb. 3, Peter's guest will be James Shea, GM of the Council for Continuing Pharmaceutical Education. Listen here now, or download the episode and play it at your convenience. The NPC Podcast is presented in cooperation with Impres Pharma

COVID CHRONICLE 01/29/2021

• Pfizer is asking Health Canada to consider extracting more doses per vial than what is currently recommended. Right now Pfizer says that five doses of the Covid-19 vaccine can be extracted from each vial, but they are currently requesting that Health Canada considers extracting six doses. If Health Canada approves this request, it will allow Pfizer to send fewer vials of the vaccine to Canada while still meeting their contractual obligation of 40 million doses. 
• A new study published in the Annals of Work Exposure and Health (Dec 14, 2020) has found that Canadians who have been deemed as essential workers are experiencing high levels of anxiety, especially in workplaces where Covid-19 protection is inadequate. The study also looked at anxiety among remote workers, finding that Canadians working from home are experiencing significantly less anxiety. 

• 60 per cent of Canadians who have been diagnosed with Covid-19 believe that they are not receiving adequate long-term care for persistent symptoms of Covid-19. The study was conducted by the CBC television program Marketplace and was completed by members of “Covid-19 long-hauler” support groups online. In comparison, to other countries such as the U.K., Canada only has six in-person clinics for patients experiencing long-term Covid-19 symptoms. There are two clinics in Ontario, three in Vancouver and one in Sherbrooke, Que. 

TODAY CHRONICLE IS WORKING ON

Yesterday I interviewed Dr. Ryan Van Lieshout, associate professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences at McMaster University, on his groundbreaking study that has found a correlation between treating post-partum depression with cognitive behavioural therapy and how it positively affects infant emotions.

TONIGHT I AM READING 

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue. Written by one of my new favourite authors, V.E. Schwab, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue has been topping bestseller lists for months, it has also been increasingly hard to get your hands on a copy due both to its popularity and supply issues that have disrupted the book industry because of Covid-19. If you do manage to get your hands on a copy, I highly recommend it.

UNTIL NEXT WEEK

The CurveFlattener will be back next Thursday with Editorial Director Allan Ryan manipulating the keyboard. On Monday, watch for the Skin Spectrum Weekly e-newsletter, and the NPC Healthbiz Weekly on Tuesday. Wednesday will bring the NPC Podcast. Until then, enjoy your weekend and stay safe, you lot. Until then, enjoy your weekend and stay safe, you lot.