Detecting Mental Health and Addiction Issues that Affect Productivity
Submitted by Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Workplace Health Services
The Centre for
Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) is the largest Canadian mental health and addiction facility, focusing on treatment, research, health promotion, and prevention. It is fully affiliated with the University of Toronto teaching hospital, and a Pan American Health Organization and World Health Organization collaborating Centre. Through its founding partners, it has been at the forefront of research and education for more than 50 years.
CAMH operates central clinical and research facilities in Toronto through the Addiction Research Foundation, the Clarke Institute of Psychiatry, The Donwood Institute, and the Queen Street Mental Health Centre. In addition, CAMH operates 12 community offices and 16 satellite locations across Ontario that support local communities in health promotion and prevention in mental health and addiction.
The workplace health services offered by CAMH specialize in helping organizations throughout Canada create a framework encouraging employees to take action and seek early treatment in response to alcohol and drug use, anger and aggression, and mental health issues such as depression.
These services target three areas: organizational policy and procedures development, training for management and employee representatives on early identification and intervention, and staff awareness and education.
The policy development workshops bring together representatives of key stakeholders in the organization to develop policies that clarify their company’s position and expectations, and communicate clear standards for consistency and fairness. Attention is given to applicable employment and labour laws, and streamlining the development process through the use of tools such as customizable templates. There are two streams of workshops: alcohol and drug use and aggressive behaviour.
Management training and staff awareness and education cover all three streams.
Training for managers, supervisors, and employee representatives includes:
Knowing the company's policy and understanding their role in its implementation and maintenance regarding alcohol and drug use, and aggressive behaviour.
Understanding and recognizing the early warning signs of alcohol and drug use, anger and aggression, and depression in the workplace.
Understanding the implications on workplace health and safety, and employee productivity, as well as requirements from employment and labour legislation.
Effectively communicating and managing unsatisfactory job performance.
Knowing how to refer an employee to experts for specific diagnosis and to offer assistance, without diagnosing or counselling employees.
Staff awareness and education sessions introduce employees to the organization’s policies, causes and effects of the behaviours and conditions, legal obligations, available support, and effective responses.
Due to the group-based nature of the training and awareness sessions, the opportunity to listen to different perspectives, exchange ideas, and discuss options for action is provided. This critical process helps reduce barriers to early identification and treatment by reducing the stigma associated with these types of workplace situations and delays in taking action due to uncertainty in how to proceed.
Additional services include:
A clinical consultation service for physicians, nurses, pharmacists, and counsellors, providing advice on the clinical care of patients and clients experiencing an alcohol or drug problem. These services are also available to corporate doctors and nurses.
An information line on alcohol and drug facts as well as treatment resources throughout Ontario.
An extensive catalogue of publications for public education based on solid research and evaluation.
The provision of articles for corporate newsletters and brochures for employee awareness.
Working with the gaming industry to develop programs that are well suited to their needs, and reflect their corporate principles and practices. The Red Flags and Referrals multimedia training manual and CD-ROM package gives employees information about responsible gambling and outlines the organization’s policies about problem gambling.
Clients who have benefited from the workplace health services are varied in size and industry, including Goodyear Canada Inc, Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd., MBNA Canada Bank, and Brookefield Lepage Johnson Controls.
The CAMH workplace health consultants are available to discuss varied organizational needs, and ensure that the services are tailored to your organization’s needs and budget. For further information please call 1-800-661-1111.
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