FREDERICTON NB, October 5, 2017 – The New Brunswick Association for Community Living (NBACL) is pleased to receive a $22,000 Bell Let’s Talk Community Fund grant in support of its Not Just Talk project.
NBACL supports individuals with intellectual or developmental disabilities (ID/DD) by working to ensure that they have the support required to live as full citizens in inclusive communities. The Not Just Talk project will provide much needed information to youth and adults with an ID/DD who also have mental health issues.
“Statistics indicate that rates of mental health conditions among people with an intellectual or developmental disability may be three to four times higher than the general population,” said Danny Soucy, NBACL’s Executive Director.
People with an ID/DD face challenges when trying to understand what they are experiencing when mental health concerns arise. NBACL receives many calls from people whose family members are experiencing anxiety and/or depression because they do not have access to information or support to understand their situation.
“NBACL has already created an eBook for professionals, entitled Supporting People with Dual Diagnosis – Intellectual Disability and Mental Illness,” Soucy added. “This crucial Bell Let’s Talk funding allows us to address the needs of those who may be affected by such a dual diagnosis, and their families, by providing helpful and important information and guidance.”
The Not Just Talk project will create a series of bilingual, plain language aids and visual tools designed for youth and adults with an intellectual or developmental disability on the topics of depression, anxiety and mental wellness. Using the combination of plain words and illustrations or visual aids, the project will help people to better understand what they are experiencing when faced with depression or anxiety, and how to cope with or address these issues. The project will also create a Facilitator’s Guide and provide training and information sessions to develop broader support strategies for family members, support workers and educators.
“Bell Let’s Talk is very proud to support the New Brunswick Association for Community Living’s Not Just Talk project,” said Mary Deacon, Chair of Bell Let’s Talk. “This year, the Bell Let’s Talk Community Fund has provided 70 grants to support programs providing mental health services in communities around the country that help Canadians living with mental illness.”
The grant will cover the cost of project coordination, resource/tool development and writing, eBook development, translation, printing of resources and public information sessions to promote use of the resources within the target population. The Community Living Board – Fundy Region Inc. is also contributing $5,500 towards the cost of project.
The Bell Let’s Talk initiative promotes Canadian mental health with national awareness and anti-stigma campaigns like Bell Let’s Talk Day, and provides significant Bell funding of community care and access, research and workplace initiatives. To learn more about the Bell Let’s Talk campaign, and to download the Bell Let’s Talk toolkit to help get the conversation started, please visit Bell.ca/LetsTalk.
