Psychologists Mark Anniversary of Workplace Mental Health Standard

The Canadian Psychological Association

OTTAWA, Jan. 22, 2014 /CNW/ - The Canadian Psychological Association (CPA) is joining the rest of Canada's mental health community in marking the one-year anniversary of the National Standard for Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace in Canada, released in January of 2013.

"The CPA and our thousands of members across Canada congratulate everyone involved in the release of the Standard one year ago, such an important milestone for workplace mental health in Canada," said Dr. Wolfgang Linden, President of the CPA. "The mental health of Canada's millions of employees is of vital importance to our economy and our health. The Standard helps set out a benchmark for employers to help address an issue that has received too little attention in the past but is so important to the satisfaction and success of any workforce, namely their psychological health".

Development of the voluntary Standard was supported by funding from the Government of Canada, the Great-West Life Centre for Mental Health in the Workplace, and Bell. The CPA is currently advocating the implementation of many of its recommendations to the federal government and Canada's biggest private sector employers.

In addition to mental health promotion and illness prevention, we need to address the needs of workers who are living with mental health problems and disorders.  "The Canadian Psychological Association has been calling for increased access to psychological services for some time," continued Dr. Karen Cohen, CPA's CEO. "We have psychological treatments that work, and experts trained to deliver them. Yet the services of psychologists are not funded by provincial health insurance plans, which make them inaccessible to many with modest incomes or no insurance. Publically funded services, when available, are often in short supply and wait lists are long. We hope that the Standard is an important milestone for employers to invest in the mental health of their workforces.  We hope that it will also be a springboard for employers, and the extended health insurance plans they sponsor, to provide better coverage for psychological services for those employees who need them."

The Canadian Psychological Association is the national association for the science, practice and education of psychology in Canada. With over 6600 members and affiliates, CPA is Canada's largest professional association for psychology.

SOURCE: Canadian Psychological Association

Canadian Psychological Association
Kim Black
[email protected], 613 237 2144