Jaylen from Mistawasis First Nation was the very first pediatric health bus patient. (Submitted Photo/Jim Pattison Children's Hospital Foundation)

By paNOW Staff

MENTAL HEALTH SUPPORTS

Indigenous communities continue to benefit from mobile mental health buses

Sep 13, 2023 | 4:00 PM

There is hope that a project providing much-needed mental health care to several Indigenous communities over the past two years will expand.

In 2021, the Saskatoon Tribal Council (STC) Mobile Mental Health Bus was launched thanks to a partnership with the Jim Pattison Children’s Hospital Foundation as well as the provincial government, Medavie Health Services, and Synergy 8 Community Builders.

In its first year of operation, the Children’s Hospital Foundation said the bus saw 690 mental health patients in the seven First Nation communities that make up the STC. This past spring, two mobile mental health vans were added to the program.

“It’s a huge benefit. It’s a big impact because now we are taking the service directly to the community,” said Chief Mark Arcand of the STC.

The Tribal Council has seven member First Nations: Muskoday, Muskeg Lake, One Arrow, Kinistin, Mistawasis, Yellow Quill, and White Cap Dakota First Nations.

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“In many First Nations communities, individuals may experience barriers when accessing certain health and human services,” Jim Pattison Children’s Hospital Foundation said in a statement.

“The health bus provides cutting-edge technology and delivery of pediatric mental health and dental care across the seven communities that we all serve,” added the CEO of the Hospital Foundation.

First Nations leaders have been sounding the alarm over mental health issues in Saskatchewan First Nations for years. In October 2022, the Saskatchewan Health Quality Council along with the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations released a report on self-harm and suicide in Indigenous communities.

The report looked at the occurrence and trajectory of self-harm and mortality from 2000 to 2020 and explored the experiences of First Nations People regarding mortality and self-harm inpatient hospitalizations between Status First Nations and the rest of the Saskatchewan population.

The report stated that as of 2019, the rate of suicide for Indigenous peoples in Saskatchewan was five times higher (55.9 per 100,000) than in non-First Nations People (12.1 per 100,000).

(Saskatchewan Health Quality Council)

The report stipulated several factors contributing to what they called a separate pandemic among First Nations in Saskatchewan. Those factors include a history of trauma, colonization, and systemic racism.

Both Arcand and the Hospital Foundation believe the partnership and mental health buses need to continue and that expanding access to care is crucial to ensure mental health interventions happen before a crisis.

“We got to continue this service; how do we enhance it?” said Arcand. “(Let’s) see what we can do next and go from there.”

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panews@pattisonmedia.com