Programs focusing on Black mental health in Canada growing

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Black Mental Health Canada, a community-based non-profit organization that addresses the needs of Black Canadians, has designed five programs to deliver culturally appropriate care while helping to dismantle barriers that the community may face when accessing mental health support.

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“We’ve come to understand that Blacks are very hesitant about therapy,” said Alice Wiafe, president of the organization and a registered psychotherapist. “They see it as a Western concept, which it is not because Africans have been counselling forever.”

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Due to systemic mistrust, other challenges like affordability, Black Canadians experience health disparities. Using the 2020 Statistics Canada Survey, the Mental Health Commission of Canada found that Black visible minority respondents experience symptoms consistent with moderate/severe generalized anxiety disorder more so than White respondents, as well they self-rated their mental health as fair/poor at a higher percentage than White respondents. The report can be found here: tinyurl.com/2s3ka4hn.

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Black Mental Health Canada worked to create programming that addresses all these factors while delivering culturally appropriate care that speaks to lived experience.

“We thought about how to create programming that speaks to our pain, that speaks to our issues, that speaks to our history and our particular concerns through day-to-day,” said Wiafe.

One of the unique programs, Self Care through Hair, is to train barbers, who are often the first line of contact, to identify vulnerable Black men and support them by listening or providing referrals for additional mental health support.

The HEROES (Health Education and Resources for Overcoming Emotional and Mental Health Struggles) program addresses the urgent need for emotional and mental health education in schools, especially in underserved communities.

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Other programs include LIFEMAP (Life Integration for Empowering Males after Probation/Parole), which supports young offenders after their release to help them set goals and provide guidance and support as they reintegrate.

In addition, the program Yes to Access provides assessments to children in need who lack the means to access traditional assessment channels. Not properly identifying youth with, for example, a behaviour problem, could have negative consequences later in life. They could drop out of school, be at risk for a mental health crisis or worse, engage in unlawful behaviour.

“We are seeing things like in detention centres, 90 per cent are Black, where the Black population in Canada is 4.5 per cent,” said Wiafe. “The programs are specifically designed by Blacks, by us.

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“As we looked at our community and figured out this way may be a way to tackle this issue.”

The BREATHE (Black Response and Empathy Alternative to Harmful Enforcement) program operates as a dedicated helpline for community incidents involving mental health crises, eliminating the need to involve the police. Instead, trained Black mental health professionals promptly respond to de-escalate situations effectively.

All programs are in different stages of development across Canada. Self Care Through Hair, LIFEMAP and Yes to Access have already been launched in various communities while BREATHE and HEROES are in the relationship-building stages.

Wiafe said there is an opportunity to offer these programs in Greater Sudbury and those interested in supporting or offering these programs should get in touch with Black Mental Health Canada.

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At a gala event in Toronto this month, the organization met with professionals, industry leaders, agencies and influencers to help raise awareness and call for funding to ensure the programming can be offered to all Black Canadians.

Black Mental Health Canada was formed in early 2019, right before the murder of George Floyd and the pandemic, placing into focus the mental health crisis, particularly in the Black community and among Black men.

“As you can imagine, all eyes were on us that year as there was so much attention and so much compassion for the Black community, and perhaps what George Floyd was struggling with, but many people could relate to, as Black individuals, especially Black men,” said Wiafe.

“Our mission is education, which is so needed in our community because there is such wrong messaging about mental health; we can’t even agree what mental health is.”

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Public Health Canada also funded a program to educate doctors, educators, government public servants and clinicians about what it means to deliver culturally sensitive care among specific groups, and in this case, Black Canadians.

“At the end of day, it is to have a better understanding of the Black client, the historical journey of the Black Canadian, what brought them here, post-colonialism and how that’s affected them and racial trauma, the fact that I walk around with this coloured skin every day and how that is different from someone else’s experience,” she said.

A recent survey found that 60 per cent of Black Canadians are more willing to access mental health services if the mental health professional were Black. That’s why the organization created a directory where Black families around Canada could find a Black mental health professional. The directory can be found here: blackmentalhealth.ca/practitioner/

Although there are no professionals in Greater Sudbury, others may be accessible virtually.

To get in touch with Black Mental Health Canada, email info@blackmentalhealth.ca.

The Local Journalism Initiative is made possible through funding from the federal government.

sud.editorial@sunmedia.ca

X: @SudburyStar

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