Hearing Voices Network
There are lots of common issues between Canada and the British systems from coercion to racism to medical models. The Hearing Voices Network (HVN) wrote a review of the British Mental Health Act this December. The report is based on HVN’s research and expertise as voice hearers.  Would you be interested in this sort of work? Is this a good time to discuss the Ontario Mental Health Act?

Key Themes / Recommendations:

• enshrining a rights-based approach in the legislation and practice;  [Rights rather than medical models]
• acknowledging both the institutional abuse and the institutional racism at the heart of the mental health system;
• ending Community Treatment Orders;
• making Advance Decisions which relate to Electro-Convulsive Therapy and medication, entirely binding;
• and creating and funding meaningful alternatives to detention.

… We call for an end to longer-term detention under the Mental Health Act in order to administer treatment, including forced medication. This can only take place alongside the implementation of a meaningful range of well-funded alternative mental health and social support.