December – Friends Monthly E-News
Season’s Greetings!
In this issue:
- Update on Riverview Hospital
- Alan Alda Speaks Out About Schizophrenia
- Bank of Montreal Donates $10,000 to Strengthening Families Together Program
- New Promotional Video For Reach Out Highschool Tour
- Kids in Control – Brochure and Promotional Poster Available online
- Easy To Remember BCSS Website Links
- New Schizophrenia Drug Shows Promise in Trials – New York Times Article
- Coordinator Profile – Julia Barr
- Naked Bungy 2008 – Promotional Poster for Branches Now Available
- BCSS – A new way to donate via Facebook – BCSS “CAUSES”
- BCSS on YouTube – Over 10,000 views since May 2007
- New! – Donate to BCSS Online!
Update on Riverview Hospital
Issued by the Provincial Health Services Authority on
Alan Alda Speaks Out About Schizophrenia:
Alan Alda’s new autobiography talks about his experiences having a mother with schizophrenia. Click here for a link to a transcript of a recent interview about it for USA Today.
Bank of Montreal Donates $10,000 to Strengthening Families Together Program
BMO, the Bank of Montreal, recently donated $10,000 to the BC Schizophrenia Societies Strengthening Families Together program. “This generous donation to BCSS by the Bank of Montreal comes at a time when funds are needed more than ever to keep the programs that BCSS has become known for strong and sustainable — both now and in the future, ” commented Gary Glacken, Executive Director of BCSS.
New Promotional Video for BCSS Reach Out High School Tour
The ReachOut Psychosis Tour is proud to present our new video, giving a taste of this concert and spoken word presentation that travels to high schools, correctional centres and colleges in BC.
You can view the video and find out more about the program at www.reachout.bcss.org . For More information on this program, or for tour dates, please visit www.reachoutpsychosis.com
Kids In Control – BCSS Promotional Poster Available Online
The Kids in Control Support Group Program gives information, education and support to children eight to thirteen years of age who have a parent with a serious mental illness. Our newly revised Kids In Control Poster is now available to download via bcss.org! Information on the program and a link to the poster file is www.kidsincontrol.bcss.org
BCSS.ORG – A Place For Support, Education, and Advocacy
We’ve been hard at work updating the www.bcss.org website to make it easy to use and informative.
We have now created links that are easy to remember, please bookmark them!
- www.calendar.bcss.org – Calendar of BCSS and family support events and courses in BC.
- www.families.bcss.org – The page showing all our family services and information
- www.mind.bcss.org – Mind Foundation information page
- www.aboriginal.bcss.org – Aboriginal information resources page (there are some new resources here)
- www.translations.bcss.org – mental health information in languages other than English
- www.av.bcss.org – Audio files and videos you can watch on the website.
- www.elist.bcss.org – Sign up for our BCSS Friends E-News, Educator, Family / Supporter, Mental Health Professional or Aboriginal Resource e-news lists.
Please note that there are also special links to each of our programs, with information about the program concerned.
- www.support.bcss.org – Online Family Support Groups – Groups are facilitated, open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week!
- www.buddy.bcss.org – Family Support Buddy Program – One-on-one support from someone who’s been there.
- www.kidsincontrol.bcss.org – Kids in Control – Groups for children with a parent with a mental illness.
- www.partnership.bcss.org – Partnership Presentations – Public education presentations on mental illness.
- www.strengtheningfamilies.bcss.org – Strengthening Families Together – This course is for family members and friends of a person with a mental illness.
- www.respite.bcss.org – Family Respite Program – This highly regarded and flexible program provides a break to family members caring for a person with a mental illness, including children, spouses, parents, siblings etc. Available in selected communities in BC.
- www.partnership.bcss.org – Information on our Partnership program – Public education program for schools, clinical staff, police, social workers, bus drivers and other groups in the community.
- www.puppeteer.bcss.org – Information on the BCSS Puppet program – Consumer and family puppeteers work together to present a play, “Brother Where Are You?” to Grade 4/5 students.
New Schizophrenia Drug Shows Promise in Trials – New York Times Article
“In a clinical trial of about 200 patients, an experimental drug from Eli Lilly reduced schizophrenia symptoms without the serious side effects of current treatments, according to a paper published yesterday in the journal Nature Medicine.
The drug must still be evaluated on many more patients to test for the possibility of side effects that have not yet emerged, and it is at least three to four years from completing regulatory review.
But schizophrenia researchers said the trial’s results were surprising and impressive, especially since the drug works in a different way from existing antipsychotic medicines, all of which have serious side effects, including substantial weight gain and tremors.” Click here to read more
Coordinator Profile – Julia Barr
Julia Barr, BCSS’s veteran Regional Coordinator serving Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam, Port Moody, Pitt Meadows and Maple Ridge will be retiring at the end of December.
Her energy and dedication to people with a serious mental illness and their family members will be greatly missed.
Julia came to BCSS with a wealth of knowledge and experience. She was in Forensic services for many years, and also served as the executive director of CMHA New Westminster, and then at Hemm Industries Society. In addition to her work, Julia put in long hours as a volunteer and board member of several local agencies to help establish urgently needed community-based mental health programs and services.
Over the last seven years, Julia Barr has brought education, support and advocacy to families in the Tri-Cities, Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows.
Every year, she comes into contact with between 50 and 100 new families coping with the effects of mental illness on their lives.
She runs a monthly Care and Share support group, which sometimes includes speakers. Their last speaker was a lawyer who gave a talk about Discretionary trusts.
Julia sits on several advisory committees and represents BCSS. She works closely with the Early Psychosis Intervention program, and does joint educational presentations with them and with the Adult Mental Health Resource Centre of Maple Ridge. Julia also collaborated with Reach Out for their presentation at a Port Moody High School and provided informational material for a health fair there. She trains family members and consumers to do Partnership Education Presentations, and coordinates them throughout North Fraser.
In the last year alone, Julia has continuously advocated for the creation of the Canadian Mental Health Commission by meeting with MPs and MLAs and filling out e-consultations. The Mental Health Commission was established in the federal budget this spring.
Julia also supports the Tri-Cities Branch, and keeps the members informed about current developments in the community.
She maintains a supply of helpful and informative books, brochures and handouts for anyone interested in learning more about mental illness.
The BCSS, along with its community partners, participated in an all day information booth in a Maple Ridge shopping centre and in a Walk-a-Mile for mental health in Maple Ridge organised by the Rainbow Club during Mental Health Week.
While at BCSS, her empathetic support helped many families through difficult times. Through her community involvement, she leaves a lasting legacy, and she richly deserves a long and happy retirement. Her friends and colleagues at BCSS would like to thank Julia for her years of service and her guidance. We wish her and her husband David all the best as they pursue new adventures.
Naked Bungy 2008 – Promotional Poster Now Available For Downloading
Our Naked Bungy event planning is well under way. Mark the Date! February 23 & 24th, 2008 at Wild Play Element Park just outside Nanaimo.
Please click on this link to download the new poster to help promote our signature annual BCSS fundraising event.
BCSS’s New Cause on Facebook
BCSS is proud to announce a whole new way to get the word out and connect with people. As well, people on Facebook can now donate to BCSS online using the Causes application. If you click through to our profile below, you’ll find out how to get involved.
By adding BC Schizophrenia to your friends list, and joining the “British Columbia Schizophrenia Society (BCSS)” cause group, you can help spread the word to let others know how to support us.
Here’s a link directly to the Cause page: http://apps.facebook.com/causes/view_cause/39590?h=mfccb&recruiter_id=3341289
BCSS On YouTube – Over 12,000 Video Views Since May 2007
The internet is a great way to disseminate information to the general public. In May 2007, we decided to do a trial, and put one of our BCSS Videos on the popular website YouTube. Since that time, our video entitled, “The Real Story Of Schizophrenia” has been viewed close to 13,000 times by various individuals. It is free to post video content on YouTube, and we feel that this is a great way to provide information to those that are looking for it via the world wide web.
You can watch the BCSS Videos by clicking on this link: http://youtube.com/watch?v=f4R6jln_eZg
New! Online Donations To BCSS on BCSS.ORG!
There’s an easy new way to donate to BCSS!
Please visit www.bcss.org and click on the “Donate Now Through Canada Helps” button.
With your credit card number, it takes less than five minutes to make your contribution to help fund the programs and services of the British Columbia Schizophrenia Society, or if you prefer, to fund the important research initiatives that we are involved in for schizophrenia and other serious and persistent mental illness.
If you are not yet comfortable with donating in this manner, you can still do it the old fashioned way and give us a call anytime at 604-270-7841 or 1-888-888-0029 toll free. For more information on all the ways to donate to BCSS, you can also visit: www.donate.bcss.org
Here’s wishing you and yours a happy, safe holiday season, and a prosperous and healthy 2008!
See you in the new year!