The Department of Psychology in partnership with MeWeRTH, will co-host Psychology Mental Health Day on Thursday October 10th from 1:30-4:00pm. MeWeRTH has established the ‘Courage to Speak Award’ to recognize the bravery and inspiration of our speakers to share their journey. This year, MeWeRTH presents the Courage to Speak Award to Peggy Hickman who will be speaking at the event. Our keynote speaker will be Dr. Cary Kogan from the University of Ottawa.

Keynote Address, Dr. Cary Kogan

Title: Mental health of Black people in Canada: The negative impact of racism

Abstract: Black people living in Canada often report receiving mental health services that are inappropriate, culturally unsafe, and in some cases racist. Until very recently, few research studies had been conducted in Canada to examine these disparities in mental health care. Similarly, the few programs developed for Black communities in Canada are often based on data collected in the United States, whereas it is well known that historical contexts are different, and that Canadian data were needed to develop evidence-based interventions. To address these gaps, the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) launched the Promoting Health Equity: Black Communities Mental Health Fund. Its main objective was to improve the Black mental health by enabling communities to acquire knowledge and capacity to develop solutions tailored to their needs. This talk will focus on the findings from a research project funded by PHAC that sought to examine existing literature on mental health disorders among Black people, obtain data from Black people living in Canada on their experiences of racism and mental health symptoms, and develop tailored programs for Black people in Canada. The results of a pan-Canadian survey will be presented that documented the prevalence and risk factors associated with symptoms of depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, and psychosomatic symptoms among Black people living in Canada.