1. MENTAL HEALTH
ADVOCACY
Andy Cox
Mental Health Advocate
andy.cox@iwk.nshealth.ca
902.470.7302

2. IWK’s Mental Health Advocate?
 -Brief
history
 -What I do
 -How

3. Why Mental Health
Advocacy?
 “I was told to just listen. It is not your job to get
you better” -patient
 “They (the clinicians) told me that I don’t have
capacity to make treatment decisions…I
wondered what the hell that meant – I’m stupid?”
-patient
 “We just assumed that we were not suppose to
give our opinion about our daughter’s illness and
treatment.” -parent

4.  “Myschool said that I have to repeat my
grade because I was in the hospital too
long.” –youth
 “Howcome my class didn’t welcome me
back with balloons like the kid with
cancer?” -youth

5.  “Mygroup home won’t take me back. I
need a home”
-youth d/c from mental health inpatient
unit
 “How do I get him help?”
-family

6.  “Ihad a six month wait to get mental
health services, the ER would not admit
me even though I felt like killing myself,
and now that I have services I spend 10
minutes a month with a clinician to go over
my medication.”
-youth

7. Types of Advocacy
 Legal Advocacy
 Social Advocacy
 Individual Advocacy
 Crisis Advocacy

8.  Informal/Natural Advocacy
 Formal Advocacy
 Collective Advocacy
 Systemic Advocacy

9. Types of Advocates
 Self-advocates
 Consumer Group (or peer) advocates
 Family as advocates
 Citizen advocates

10.  Staff as advocates
 Boards as advocates
 Substitute decision-makers as
advocates
 Lawyers as advocates

11. IWK Programs
 Central Referral 902.464.4110
 Mobile Crisis 429-8167 (1-888-8167)
 Mental Health Crisis Team
 Inpatient Unit 4South
 Community Mental Health
 Maritime Psychiatry (sub-specialty mh services)
 Residential (ACT, Compass)

12.  Day Treatments (Child and Family, Adolescent)
 ICBTT
 Choices: Outpatient, Day Tx, Residential Tx
 Complex Case Management
 Child Welfare Mental Health Team
 Reproductive Mental Health
 Forensic Services

13. Mental Health Commission of
Canada (MHCC)
 PARTNERS FOR MENTAL HEALTH