Mental Health and Addictions Strategy
Mental Health Services
Mental Health and Addictions Strategy
We are working to enhance mental health and addictions services across all communities in Nova Scotia through the Together We Can Strategy released in 2012. This is the latest progress update, which highlights significant progress made over the past three years.
Recommended Media Reporting Guidelines on Mental Illness
A resource for journalists and editors in reporting on mental illness, including suicides.
Read the Reporting Guidelines | En français
Hear personal stories of Nova Scotians who are using and supporting programs and services in their communities.
Community groups across Nova Scotia are encouraged to apply for mental health and addictions grants of up to $150,000 each year under a revitalized grants process.
Read Call for Letter of Intent
Read the press release.
More community support is driving the success of the province's mental health and addictions strategy, which is now in its fourth year.
Most of the 33 actions in the Together We Can mental strategy have been completed or are significantly underway.
A year ago, the province launched Nova Scotia’s first-ever mental health and addictions strategy, Together We Can.
The strategy put the province’s commitment to improving mental health and addictions care for Nova Scotians into action.
With this report, we are sharing an update on the first year of that work, and outlining the work for the years ahead.
Read Together We Can Strategy - One Year Update | En français
5 Key Priority Areas
View the 5 Key Priority Areas
Health and Wellness has released Nova Scotia's first ever government-wide strategy for mental health and addictions care called Together We Can: The Plan to Improve Mental Health and Addictions Care for Nova Scotians.
The five-year plan outlines 33 actions to provide better care sooner for Nova Scotians living with mental illness and addictions and their families.
Some of the key actions include:
- Placing mental health clinicians in SchoolsPlus family of schools in all school boards in Nova Scotia to identify and treat mental health problems of children and youth earlier
- Expanding opioid replacement treatment to areas of the province with the greatest need
- Expanding the successful Strongest Families program, which provides telephone coaching to families that have children with behavioral or anxiety difficulties, across the province
- Expanding peer support to help people with mental illness transition successfully from the hospital to the community
- Expanding the toll-free crisis line across the province to make sure that people with mental health and addictions concerns are able to talk to someone immediately
The 2012/13 provincial budget contained $5.2 million in new funding for the first year of implementing the Mental Health and Addictions Strategy. Download Mental Health and Addictions Investments detail document.
Community Mental Health and Addictions Grants
Over the past three years, government has provided $2.6 million to 37 community-based organizations to improve the quality of life for Nova Scotians living with mental illness and addictions and their families. We are now inviting groups to submit a letter of intent for one-year Mental Health and Addictions grants for amounts of up to $150,000.
The community grants process was recently revitalized to make it more transparent and accountable helping to ensure the best programs are supported so they can deliver the greatest value to those who need help. The grants are a key component of the province’s mental health and addictions strategy, Together We Can.
Other funding streams will follow the same revitalized process. Those include Population Health grants, Municipal Alcohol Policy grants, and Community-based Gambling grants.
Mental Health and Addictions Strategy - Together We Can
Come Together - Full Report and Recommendations
The Mental Health and Addictions Strategy was informed by the recommendations outlined in the April 2012 report called Come Together.
Come Together - Summary of the Report