Education
The Partnership
Program | SSC-led National Initiatives
Collaboration
and Partnerships | Members
This community education model consists of
the balanced involvement of consumers, family members and professionals in
planning, development, and delivery of services - where each person is
respected for the knowledge, expertise and experience which they bring to
the presentation. It is a dramatic and effective way to educate.
The primary element of the program is composed of
presentations made by three person teams made up of a consumer (C), a
family member (F), and a health professional (P) or CFP Teams, each
describing their own perspective of the illness and answering questions
from the audience. The personal stories of people with the illness, family
members, friends, as well as, professionals, help to humanize the illness
and increase understanding and compassion. Their joint presentation sends
a coordinated and consistent message to the audience.
The program shows people that persons with the illness are
really no different from anyone else, except that they have an illness.
This greatly reduces the stigma associated with the illness. Removal of
the stigma and discrimination attached to severe and chronic mental
illness (i.e. schizophrenia) is an absolute necessity in order to remove
barriers to community living, promote better understanding, and greater
public service providers, police, and schools.
The program makes presentations about the illness of
schizophrenia to schools, service providers, and the public.
The Partnership Program works very closely with mental
health professionals, family members, people with the illness, and the
community and this form of presenting gives the audience a unique
opportunity to learn about the various impacts that schizophrenia and
other mental illnesses have on our society. Volunteers are an invaluable
resource and without their participation the Partnership Program could not
exist.
Members of the Partnership Program, both family members
and people who have schizophrenia have proven their dedication to the
removal of stigma and discrimination because of schizophrenia. Together
they epitomize determinations, great skill and most of all unparalleled
courage through their participation in the program.
Through connections with educational institutions across
the province the Partnership Program is building awareness and
understanding of all physical disorders of the brain. Collaboration with
the Associations representing Clinical Depression and Bipolar Disorder has
broadened the scope of the Program to the benefit of all who participate.
SSC-led National Intiatives
Based on proposals developed by the
Schizophrenia Society of Alberta, the Schizophrenia Society of Canada is
working with the British Columbia Schizophrenia Society to develop
national Educational Programs as listed below.
Family Education Program: The Family
Education Program will offer up-to-date information about symptoms
and the treatment of mental illness, as well as provide an opportunity for
families to discuss the daily challenges they face. The program will also
include tools to assist families with coping skills, problem-solving and
communication skills.
Reaching Out: Reaching
Out is Canada’s first national initiative targeting teens
and mental illness. It
allows educators to empathetically expose young people to the sensitive
topic of mental illness by providing them with real tools to help others.
Resource materials use simple and clear language and are available in both
English and French. Importantly,
the program does not require that educators have prior knowledge of mental
illness.
Free to educators, the resour ce
kit includes a
professionally-produced “docu-drama” video which also features
insights from individuals successfully living with schizophrenia.
There are recommended lesson plans, FAQ’s, suggested role-playing
scenarios, and a number of helpful web links and referral sources.
The video portrays the isolation, confusion and fear that grips
sufferers, which is compounded by teenage immaturity and the inability of
sufferers to “self-diagnose.”
Originally developed as a pilot program by
the British Columbia Schizophrenia Society and a medical advisory
committee r epresenting
well known and respected mental health professionals, Reaching Out
has been extensively reviewed
and tested within the educational, medical and social services sectors.
Based on a rigorous review process by the Population Health Fund,
Health Canada awarded a $200,000 contribution to the Schizophrenia Society
of Canada to nationalize the
pilot program.
Reaching Out is also
continuing to earn the support
of a number of leading organizations, including the Canadian Teachers'
Federation, Canadian Psychiatric Association, and the Canadian Counsellors’
Association, among others. It
was recently approved by the Nova Scotia Department of Education to become
part of the Grade 9 curriculum in its “Personal Development and
Relationships” course.
Approximately 6,000 high school and
selected middle school principals across Canada will be offered the
opportunity to order a free Reaching Out resource
kit beginning the week of
April 28, 2003. The goal is to gain widespread distribution of the Reaching
Out program prior to the start of the next school year, and the
Schizophrenia Society is working closely with key professional
organizations within the educational community to help spread the word.
Importantly, the program is also available
and fully downloadable at www.schizophrenia.ca/reachingout/index.html.
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