MAY 12 – PLENARY SESSION PROMOTING IDEA IN MENTAL HEALTH AND ADDICTIONS

Paulysha De Gannes (she/her), MPH, Senior Advisor, Addictions and Mental Health Ontario (AMHO)

Holly L. Harris (she/her), MA, Peer Support Specialist/Lived-Experience Researcher, Ontario Shores Centre for Mental Health Sciences

Rann Sharma (she/her), MA, Director, People and Culture, Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA), Toronto Branch

Leaning Objectives:

At the end of this presentation, participants will be able to:

1. Apply AMHO’s Equity, Anti-Racism and Anti-Oppression Framework and Tools
2. Leverage the personal recovery philosophy as it relates to equity, diversity, inclusion, and anti-discrimination
3. Discuss how organizations can dismantle historic and structural inequities that have created barriers for equity seeking groups and recognize the intersectionality of equity-based identities as an employer and mental health and addictions service provider.

Abstract:

Recovery is a personal journey, unique to every individual; and, we recognize that each individual journey is rooted in experiences of systemic privilege and/or oppression, which affect our collective mental well-being. Through this plenary session, the contemporary mental health system will be reflected on through the lens of equity, diversity, inclusion, and anti-discrimination. The three plenary speakers each speak from unique perspectives about the ways in which equity, diversity, inclusion, and anti-discrimination drives their work in the mental health system, highlight areas to celebrate, and empower session participants to address areas of improvement in the contemporary mental health system. On behalf of Addictions and Mental Health Ontario (AMHO), Paulysha De Gannes (she/her) will speak from the system perspective to provide an overview of AMHO’s Equity, Anti-Racism, and Anti-Oppression framework and approach, implementation strategies, and next steps for advancing advance equity, anti-racism, and anti-oppression initiatives. Rann Sharma (she/her) will speak from a community mental health perspective and share the actions that Canadian Mental Health Association Toronto Branch is taking towards being an anti-racist, anti-oppressive addiction and mental health service provider and employer. Finally, Holly Harris  (she/her) will share her experiences as a consumer/survivor activist and the ways in which she engages with her community to  highlight the voices of those with lived experience, challenge problematic power differentials, honour the vast and dynamic nature of the human experience, and celebrate our shared humanity. Through this session, the plenary speakers will share their knowledge and provide a forum for discussion in which participants can collectively engage in dialogue about the ways in which the learnings can be put into practice.