Mental health needs more funds

Murray Mandryk’s perceptive column Mental health advocate says minister needs to see world through her eyes (SP, Jan. 30), made a point that cannot be repeated too often: The impact of underfunding mental health on individuals and families is too often not fully understood when decisions about health care spending are being made. This remains true even though one in five families will face mental health issues.

Saskatchewan now lags behind other provinces in mental health funding. The La Loche shooting and trauma from the Humboldt bus crash have put the need for mental health services in the public eye, but the need is broader than these tragedies suggest, and all sectors of society are affected.

As a senior, I’m particularly concerned with the mental health problems that often come with age. Depression and isolation are frequently compounded with other health issues and are too often overlooked.

Several years ago, a 10-year action plan for mental health identified a need to “address the mental health needs of the growing population of seniors, beginning with homecare services and the lack of long-term care facilities, with suitably trained staff, for seniors with serious mental health issues.” Unfortunately there has not been much action on the action plan.

It is time to commit funding and attention to mental health issues in Saskatchewan.

Michael Finley, Saskatoon