Eighth International Conference on Health, Wellness & Society

Abstract

The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) is Canada’s largest mental health and addiction teaching hospital and a world leading research centre in this field. CAMH combines clinical care, research, education, policy development and health promotion to help transform the lives of people affected by mental illness and addiction. CAMH is fully affiliated with the University of Toronto, and is a Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization Collaborating Centre. Employment Works! is a CAMH Human Resources recruitment and retention initiative targeted to recruit people with lived experience of mental health and/or addiction challenges, into vacant CAMH positions. This initiative was created in order for CAMH to “walk the talk”, demonstrating to other employers that people do recover from poor mental health and that most can return to work in a dignified and productive manner. The CAMH Wellness Centre opened its doors to all staff, physicians, volunteers and students in May 2017. This space was designed for members to focus on their health and well-being, while also supporting and sustaining this practice. The team at the Wellness Centre encourages everyone to view your health holistically and repeatedly refers to seven elements that contribute to overall well-being: environmental, mental and emotional, financial, spiritual, occupational, social and physical. Our goal is to optimize our physical space and offer programs and workshops that elevate staff awareness and knowledge regarding their own wellbeing.