Community on Aging Knowledge Exchange (CAKE) » mental health

Student Poster Competition – seniors’ mental health.

Cheryl Cook — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 13:45:20 +0000

The Canadian Coalition for Seniors’ Mental Health (CCSMH) will hold a poster competition for students in the field of seniors’ mental health. Submission is open to all students who plan to attend the CCSMH 4th National Conference in Halifax. This poster competition is sponsored by the Geriatric Medicine Research Unit.

Submission is open to all students who plan to attend the CCSMH 4th National Conference in Halifax. Posters will be displayed throughout the conference foyer on Monday, September 27, with two time blocks dedicated to poster viewing.

The deadline for submitting your abstract is July 15, 2010 and abstracts will be considered in the following themes:

New research findings
Models of care & service delivery
In-service education & training
Health promotion & illness prevention
Implementation of best practice guidelines
Anti-stigma & raising awareness
Role of the caregiver & consumer
Knowledge transfer & exchange

See the Program-at-a-Glance for full details.

The New Science of Grief.

Cheryl Cook — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 12:25:04 +0000

For many years there has been a generally accepted idea that when grieving, we pass through five distinct phases: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. These stages sprang from the work of Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, and were originally based on her work with terminally ill patients, but have been accepted to apply to the grief of those suffering the loss of someone important in their life.

Into this conventional wisdom steps George A. Bonanno, Professor of Clinical Psychology and Chair of the Department of Counseling and Clinical Psychology at Columbia University’s Teachers College, and his new work on the process of grief. In his new book, The Other Side of Sadness, Bonanno contends that this model does not account for the complexity of the process nor the resiliency of the human mind in coping with loss. He contends that we are hardwired to deal with grief, and for most people it is a natural process that they accomplish on their own:

“Most bereaved people get better on their own, without any kind of professional help. They may be deeply saddened, they may feel adrift for some time, but their life eventually finds its way again, often more easily than they thought possible. This is the nature of grief. This is human nature.”

The Other Side of Sadness is available online in Canada at Chapters.

Grief and and bereavement support services are available in Halifax Regional Municipality here.

For a list of services across Nova Scotia, go here.

New mental health site launched for Nova Scotia

Cheryl Cook — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 18:00:34 +0000

A new site called One in Five has been launched in Nova Scotia. Its aim is to reduce the stigma of mental health issues, and to educate peopleon the need for Nova Scotia to have a comprehensive mental health strategy.

The site had personal stories from those affected by mental health problems, as well as many facts, news items and link about mental health.

You can visit the site here.