Veterans

Through training and research, U of T seeks to improve mental health outcomes for Canada's veterans

Christopher.Sorensen — Wed, 11 Nov 2020 14:38:06 +0000

Through training and research, U of T seeks to improve mental health outcomes for Canada's veterans

Christopher.Sorensen Wed, 11/11/2020 - 09:38

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A 2018 report by the department of psychiatry in U of T's Temerty Faculty of Medicine found that most clinicians are unfamiliar with military culture and lack experience treating trauma-related conditions (photo by Blue Mountain Images/Getty Images)

Emily Kulin

Topic

Our Community

Temerty Faculty of Medicine

Mental Health

Psychiatry

Veterans

Championing veterans’ greater access to quality mental health care is a key mission for Ryan Dermody, president of Norcan Petroleum Group and retired member of the Royal Navy.

“I’ve seen, firsthand, what happens when veterans living with mental health conditions fail to get the help they need,” says Dermody. “Governments and other organizations have been doing important work in this area. Yet, there are still many times when individuals slip through the cracks, often with tragic outcomes. We have to do better.”

So, Dermody, who also serves as a member of the ��Ƶ’s department of psychiatry volunteer campaign cabinet, began asking what the department was doing to help address this challenge.

“Ryan’s question was an eye-opener,” says Professor Benoit Mulsant, Labatt Family Chair of the department of psychiatry in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine. “We pride ourselves on our department’s size and broad scope. And yet, we realized we were not doing enough in the specific area of veteran mental health.”

In 2018, the department commissioned a study to explore how to augment current treatments and supports for Canadian veterans with a focus on post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

“We don’t want to duplicate existing programs,” says Mulsant. “The study was commissioned to determine if there was a role we can play, given our expertise in care, education and research, to add to these efforts in a strategic way.”

The resulting 76-page report identified several key gaps in the current state of veterans’ psychiatric care. The most glaring: Most clinicians practising in Canada are unfamiliar with military culture and lack experience treating trauma-related conditions in veterans.

“As a university that trains more than a quarter of the country’s psychiatrists, we feel a particular responsibility to help address this issue,” says Mulsant. “One way would be through new fellowships in veteran mental health that would provide new psychiatry leaders with targeted training in this highly-specialized field.”

The study also identified a need to advance research into conditions for which veterans are at particularly high risk such as PTSD, depression, anxiety and substance abuse, as well as for further collaboration between the many stakeholders already working to support veteran mental health – opportunities Mulsant sees as aligning with U of T’s strengths and expertise.

“We are embarking on this journey without yet knowing all the answers, but my colleagues and I are confident that we can contribute in a positive way to the wellbeing of Canadian veterans,” says Mulsant. “Our next step will be consulting with veterans and veterans’ organizations to co-create solutions that will leverage our strengths. We plan to create an advisory committee that will guide us and ensure that our programming is veteran-centric and integrative.”

“We always welcome initiatives across the country that seek to improve mental health outcomes for our Veterans,” says Lawrence MacAulay, Canada’s minister of veterans affairs and associate minister of national defence. “Academic institutions like the ��Ƶ are important collaborators in driving health innovation.”

Early lead donors, including National Bank and Fondation Famille Vachon, have already stepped forward in support of the department’s efforts. A portion of their support will fund a pilot training opportunity for junior psychiatrists from across Canada to train at U of T.

“We’re thrilled to be supporting U of T’s department of psychiatry’s work in the area of veteran mental health,” says Louis Vachon, president and chief executive officer of National Bank and honorary lieutenant-colonel of Les Fusiliers Mont-Royal. “Members of the military serve their communities with selfless courage, skill and unwavering dedication. We owe it to our veterans to do all we can to ensure their wellbeing.”

Rehabilitating veterans: U of T’s ongoing commitment

ullahnor — Fri, 11 Nov 2016 14:48:33 +0000

Rehabilitating veterans: U of T’s ongoing commitment

ullahnor Fri, 11/11/2016 - 09:48

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An injured soldier receiving therapy. In 1918, a ward aides program was designed run by the engineering department to instruct volunteers in providing retraining for war veterans (photo courtesy of U of T archives)

Liam Mitchell

Author legacy

Liam Mitchell

Topic

When the wounded warriors of the First World War returned home, Canada’s veterans could count on the ��Ƶ to support their rehabilitation.

It was from the ravages of the First World War that U of T’s rehabilitation programs emerged, and that commitment has been sustained over the decades to the present day, as students, faculty and alumni work to improve the quality of life for those injured in war zones.

During the First World War, a six-month training program for physical therapists was established in 1917 at Hart House by the Military Hospitals Commission. Known as the “Hart House Course,” it emphasized massage and electrotherapy, gymnastics and muscle function training.

Read about U of T's Soldiers' Tower war memorial and museum

By 1919, 250 people had completed the program and were assigned to military hospitals across Canada.

U of T also laid the foundation for occupational therapy during this period through the training of Ward Aides. The program was established under the auspices of the Faculty of Applied Sciences and Engineering, supported by professors and instructors in the Faculty of Medicine. The aim was to provide vocational retraining to veterans so they could enter or re-enter the workforce.

In 1917, the Miltary Hospitals Commission established a six-month course at Hart House to train physiotherapists for the rehabilitation of injured soldiers (photo courtesy of U of T archives)

While the urgency waned when the armistice was signed in 1919, the importance of rehabilitation had been firmly established. In 1926, U of T set up a two-year program in occupational therapy, while the first formal diploma in physical therapy was established in 1931 at a time when 27 per cent of Ontario hospitals had departments in the field. The importance of psychiatric care to support veterans became better known as the 1930s began and by 1934, new training was included in the occupational therapy program to address this pressing need.

Flash forward to the present day, where students like Melissa Biscardi continue to work alongside veterans. Biscardi is completing her master's degree under the supervision of Professor Angela Colantonio in the Faculty of Medicine's Rehabilitation Sciences Institute. Her clinical work experience with veterans inspired Biscardi’s current thesis research, which is looking at traumatic brain injuries in military women, both those currently serving and veterans.

“I would often have patients come into our clinic complaining about back or neck pain, but I could quickly see there was other underlying issues like mental health and post-traumatic stress disorder,” explained Biscardi.

With a background in nursing and a strong interest in research that was ignited during her undergraduate studies, Biscardi decided to pursue a graduate degree.

“I knew that I wanted to find a way to help members of the military and veterans – they’ve given so much to serve our nation – plus I was interested in the intersection between traumatic injury, mental health and gender. So this has proven to be the perfect match,” she said. Biscardi also noted this will help advance research on traumatic brain injury in female veterans, which has not been well explored.

Danny Slack spent five weeks interning at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre as he pursued his master's degree in physical therapy. Slack, who completed his degree last year, recalled working with a 97-year-old man who had outlived his wife and even his children.

“I couldn’t believe how much he wanted to exercise,” said Slack. “We’d do 10 minutes on a reclining bike and he wanted to keep going. He said he wanted to be the oldest man in there.”

Today, U of T’s rehabilitation sciences comprise the departments of occupational science and occupational therapy, physical therapy, speech-language pathology and the Rehabilitation Sciences Institute.

In addition to offering professional master’s programs in core rehab disciplines, the sector also supports research-based graduate degrees. It has the most extensive network of clinical facilities available in North America, as well as faculty who are known nationally and internationally. Now these programs seek not only to improve the quality of life for veterans, but for clients across Canada and around the world.

Professor Edward Shorter and Heidi Singer also contributed to this story.

November 11: U of T Remembers

lavende4 — Wed, 09 Nov 2016 20:41:57 +0000

November 11: U of T Remembers

lavende4 Wed, 11/09/2016 - 15:41

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The University’s Remembrance Day service outside of Hart House in 1947 (Photo: U of T Archives)

Terry Lavender

Noreen Ahmed-Ullah

Author legacy

Terry Lavender and Noreen Ahmed-Ullah

Topic

Remembering the veterans of Sunnybrook

An interview with physical therapy student Danny Slack, who spent five weeks interning at Sunnybrook Veterans Centre.

In Memoriam: remembering the First World War at U of T

Archivist Harold Averill discusses the war that changed the world.

In Flanders Fields: why the iconic poem by U of T alumnus endures, 100 years later

As Canadians commemorate Remembrance Day this year, many will reflect on the solemn beauty and eloquent simplicity of the iconic war poem, In Flanders Fields. This is the 100th anniversary of the poem written by ��Ƶ alumnus John McCrae, a Canadian doctor who was in the trenches during World War I.

We will do our share

U of T archivist Loryl MacDonald takes us through the Fisher Library's exhibition, We Will Do Our Share: The ��Ƶ and the Great War.

Dr. Homer Tien: from the battlefield to the ER

Dr. Homer Tien, recipient of the Order of Military Merit and assistant professor at U of T and director, trauma services, at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, recalls his exceptional advancements.

Canadian Forces: alumna retires after serving as surgeon general

Few people have served nearly four decades in the Canadian Forces. Fewer of these are doctors. Fewer still are women. And only one of these – ��Ƶ medicine graduate Dr. Hilary F. Jaeger— has retired with the rank of brigadier general after serving as surgeon general of the Canadian Forces.

What can civilian hospitals learn from the military? Just ask this high school dropout turned trauma surgeon

Dr. Andrew Beckett is a highly credentialed trauma surgeon who has spent nearly two decades in the Canadian Forces – and whose work in war zones has led him to ask questions that never occur to most of his research colleagues back home.

Remembering the veterans of Sunnybrook: a Convocation 2015 story

sgupta — Wed, 11 Nov 2015 09:47:28 +0000

Remembering the veterans of Sunnybrook: a Convocation 2015 story sgupta Wed, 11/11/2015 - 04:47

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Canadian flags on grounds of Sunnybrook Hospital (all images courtesy Sunnybrook Hospital)

Heidi Singer

Author legacy

Heidi Singer