Keyword: social determinants

Pessamit, 1973. This story begins 40 years ago, after a routine medical exam given at the dispensary of an Innu community in the beautiful Côte-Nord region. The news was unexpected and devastating: like the weighted blade of a guillotine, falling at lightning speed between its wooden pillars, unimpeded by any obstacle in its path, not even my head. That’s when the doctor told us, in a language I didn’t understand, that I would soon have to leave my family, friends and community for a very long time. I felt the guillotine’s effects once again, except that this time, it wasn’t only my head that was severed from my body, it was my very soul that would be severed from the family unit. That seemed more horrible to me than losing my head.

For decades, social workers have been active in the field of mental health through interventions involving people and their environment. They consider individuals’ subjective reality, context and living conditions, as well as their social roles and network, from a perspective of recovery, empowerment, full citizenship and social justice.

Indigenous people of Canada and elsewhere experience severe and systematic disempowerment with devastating health and social impacts. These are reflected in the staggering number of Aboriginal people in long-term care, such as drug and alcohol rehabilitation programs, mental health inpatient and forensic mental health units in the judiciary system.

Mental health is the capacity of individuals and groups to interact with one another and the environment in ways that promote subjective well-being, optimal development and the use of cognitive, affective and relational abilities. This definition focuses on the fact that mental health is not limited to the absence of disease, but is a positive state.