Get outside while it’s still summer. Whether it’s a mountain hike, a picnic in the park, gardening or simply lounging in the sun, a dose of fresh air in nature lets your body and your mind take the break they need and deserve.

It has been proven that being in green spaces (like forests, gardens and parks) can significantly reduce cortisol (stress hormone), and raise endorphin levels and dopamine production (both of which may promote “happiness”)[1].

Getting better air isn’t the only advantage to being outdoors. Natural light (Vitamin D) will help regulate your sleep cycle[2]. Green spaces also promote doing physical activity, which can give your brain a boost, and can also improve your self-esteem, reduce stress and generally improve your quality of life[3]. In other words, getting outside and being in nature are a winning combination for your psychological and physical well-being.

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People experiencing mental health and addictions challenges will soon have better access to the services they need, thanks to a new vision for care outlined in A Pathway to Hope: A roadmap for making mental health and addictions care better for people in British Columbia.

“For too long, little attention was paid to mental health and substance use care by previous governments,” said Premier John Horgan. “A Pathway to Hope lays out our plan to help people now and improve the health and wellness of all British Columbians in the long term. We’re taking a provincewide approach to build a system of care where services are always within reach and people have the supports and opportunities they need.”

A Pathway to Hope lays out government’s 10-year vision for mental health and addictions care that gets people the services they need in order to tackle problems early on and support their well-being. It identifies the priority actions government will take over the next three years to help people immediately and reduce demand on services down the road. The focus is on supporting the wellness of children, youth and young adults, supporting Indigenous-led solutions and improving access and quality of care. The roadmap will also build on the ongoing work to address the overdose crisis by starting to establish improved systems of addictions care.

“There is nothing more pressing than ensuring every young person has the supports they need to not just survive, but thrive,” said Judy Darcy, Minister of Mental Health and Addictions. “These longstanding problems in mental health and addictions care won’t be fixed overnight. But by starting to move from a crisis-driven system to early intervention and prevention – especially for children and youth – we can help people before their problems become more severe.”

The roadmap was launched with mental health and addictions advocates at Mountainside Secondary school in North Vancouver. Between 2013 and 2015, the number of B.C. students reporting depression rose by 50% and the number reporting anxiety increased by over 135%. Further, 17% of students reported that they had seriously considered suicide in the last year.

At the heart of A Pathway to Hope is a plan to begin transforming mental health and substance use care for children, youth, young adults and their families to reach them where they are — in their homes, communities and schools. This will start moving the mental health care system from a crisis-based approach to upstream early interventions and begin to replace the current patchwork of services with wraparound services and supports.

Initial priority actions in the three-year plan include:

• Increasing access to affordable counselling and support: expanding sliding scale and no-cost community counselling services with $10 million in grants to non-profits. This will expand affordable access for people, especially those without extended health coverage and those facing barriers related to race, ethnicity, religion, gender, age, social class and/or sexual orientation.
• Launching integrated child and youth teams connected to schools: establishing multi-disciplinary teams in five school districts over the next two years to bring wraparound services and supports directly to young people where they feel safe and comfortable, so families and caregivers do not have to navigate a system on their own.
• Opening more Foundry centres: increasing the number of Foundry youth centres from 11 to 19, so that young people in more communities can access these “one-stop shops” for health and wellness resources, services and supports.
• Expanding First Nations-run treatment centres: supporting the construction of two new urban treatment centres and renovations to a number of existing centres providing culturally safe access to substance use services.
• Expanding intensive services for children and youth: establishing two new intensive day programs for children and youth with severe mental health and/or substance use challenges transitioning out of hospital care, and 20 new family care home spaces with clinical care as an alternative to hospitalization.
• Supporting early childhood social emotional development: enhancing and expanding early intervention services and programs in child development centres and community-based organizations and launching new professional development tools and educational resources to support service providers and caregivers of children under six years of age.

This work to break down barriers and make mental health and addictions care better will take everyone — government, communities, organizations, service providers, people with lived experience and people throughout the province. Government will report annually as it delivers on its commitment to improve care for people in B.C.

Delivering A Pathway to Hope is a shared priority between government and the BC Green Party caucus, and is part of the Confidence and Supply Agreement.

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