#Winnipeg, #Manitoba, #Canada, #mentalwellness, #AngelaTaylor; #InspireCommunityOutreach; #BigDaddyTazz; #Virgoreport, #autism

Winnipeg (Manitoba)/Ottawa, May 19 (Canadian-Media): The organizer of a new festival, Angela Tayor,  in Winnipeg that celebrates mental wellness says she hopes it will be a welcoming place for everyone, including those who live with "invisible disabilities," media reports said.

The first Family Mental Wellness Festival will reportedly take place at Festival Park at The Forks in Winnipeg from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday.

"It's a way of celebrating every family in our city, and every family has mental wellness and every family has mental health needs, so it's a way to celebrate those needs," said Angela Taylor, executive director and founder of Inspire Community Outreach, which organized the festival.

Audience of all ages including guest speakers can attend this festival. 

Main fetures of this festival are musical and dance performances, children's entertainment, local vendors and representatives from local mental health programs and resource organizations.

​Winnipeg comedian Big Daddy Tazz will be the host for the festival.

She said this event will offer things that other festivals often don't take into consideration, like accessible safe spaces and therapy dogs.

​​"This [festival] is about acknowledging that in this city every street is filled with families just like mine," Taylor said.

"For me personally, ever since I can remember … I knew I was different. I had a lot of worries. I felt that people didn't understand that, people didn't understand me because of that," she said.

"Now that I'm older, I can learn different coping strategies with the love and support of my family."

She wants her son who lives with autism, to embrace who he is.

"If I really want him to embrace his differences … then I need to be authentic and model that myself."

People often excluded in society are also reportedly welcome to the festival.

"For me it's about having disabilities and invisible disabilities. No matter where I go, I'm not thought of. I'm not invited. And for us, this event is about acknowledging that … we're welcome. At Inspire, we're always welcome and we're always thought of."

The festival would be celebrated during the release of the long-awaited Virgo report -- which looks  at addictions treatment and mental health services in the province and how it's treated in Manitoba has been in the news.

​Taylor said the key to improving mental health treatment is listening to people in the community.

"I think just getting back to the heart of community and just asking people what's valuable to you, what's meaningful, what are you missing in your life, and then being able to have them be the guide."

She said many families are affected by mental health disorders, and she wants to open up the conversation about mental wellness.

"I really want them to honour that…just feel OK to have anxiety or worries, or challenges, because the challenges do come."

​According to the most recent estimates of the Office of the Chief Coroner for Ontario revealed 187 deaths in Toronto, which is more than double the number of deaths over the same time period in 2016

TPH requests us to think of  people who take drugs are our friends, family members, and coworkers and whould be given a humanitarian consideration.

"We need to recognize that people from all walks of life take drugs, yet many face significant stigma from their family, friends and society at large. The impact of this stigma is profound and is contributing to the overdose crisis," said Dr. Eileen de Villa, Medical Officer of Health for the City of Toronto. "Talking to someone close to you about substance use can be difficult but it could also be the most important conversation you will ever have. This campaign will help promote this message." 

This campaign stresses that reducing stigma is critical to saving lives and focuses people's beliefs to reduce the stigma and discrimination associated with drug use by changing thier language to support people in a compassionate and respectful way. 

British Columbia's Stop Overdose B.C. campaign launched by the B.C. Ministry of Mental Health and Addictions earlier this year was adapted by the Toronto Public Health for its present campaign

"The overdose crisis knows no boundaries. It is international in scope and requires everyone to work together, to share knowledge and resources in order to address the devastating impact on individuals and families,” said B.C. Minister of Mental Health and Addictions Judy Darcy. “We are very pleased to share the campaign and its powerful message to address stigma and build support for an effective response.” 

"We want people to feel valued, supported and reassured that someone will be there to respond if they reach out for help. We know that more work is needed on many different fronts to address this very serious health issue and this is one step in the way forward," added Dr. de Villa. ​

(Reporting by Asha Bajaj)​

newneuromuscularcentre, #OttawaHospital'sCiviccampus, #ALS, #myotonicdystrophy, #musculardystrophy, #GuillainBarrésyndrome,  #Dr.RobinParks, #Dr.JodiWarmanChardon, #TeresaBuffone, #UniversityofOttawa, 

Ottawa, May 8 (Canadian-Media): Scientists, doctors and patients alike had called the new neuromuscular centre at the Ottawa Hospital's Civic campus, Ontario  a "game changer" May 6, media reports said. 

According to a news release from the Ottawa Hospital May 6, the centre which opened on April 30 and serves as a hub for about 200 clinicians and scientists, is funded by  donors.

​The new centre is expected to serve about 10,000 people a year who suffer from diseases including ALS, myotonic dystrophy, muscular dystrophy and Guillain-Barré syndrome.

Research scientists and clinicians at the centre, which is reportedly also affiliated with the University of Ottawa's Centre for Neuromuscular Disease and Brain and Mind Research Institute, would work together to  conduct clinical trials and develop new treatments for people with neuromuscular diseases.
​
Patients in the Ottawa area, till now, had to to travel to Toronto, Montreal or even farther for treatment or testing. 

Teresa Buffone, who lost her husband years ago to myotonic dystrophy,  said she knows all too well the toll neuromuscular disease can take on a family and added she had two adult children suffering from the same disease. 

Buffone was one of many people who worked hard to make the centre happen, and said it wasn't easy. 

"It takes time. It takes time and perseverance, and continuously knocking on doors. Whether it be physicians, politicians, other people who can lend a hand to fundraising," she said. 

"This is something that is definitely going to help the community, not only my family but also the community in general." 

"It's a dream come true to be able to have a research centre that will enable clinical trials and have clinicians working together with researchers to help, to find a solution to the these neurodegenerative diseases," she told CBC. 

Dr. Robin Parks and Dr. Jodi Warman Chardon had both played a key role in establishing the new neuromuscular centre at the Ottawa Hospital. (The Ottawa Hospital ). 

"This is exactly the care we'd want for our loved ones," said Chardon, a neurologist and associate scientist at The Ottawa Hospital and assistant professor at the University of Ottawa. "Clinicians working together with scientists -- we'll be unstoppable to better understand disease mechanisms and develop new therapies. The centre will be a game changer and that's what we need for our patients."

Warman Chardon, a neuroscientist and co-director of the new centre, said it all started with a fellowship in Montreal.

"I would take the train up every morning," she said in an interview. "I would see patients being taken on the train, then I would see them at my clinic in Montreal. If I was lucky enough to get my staff position at the Ottawa Hospital, one of the things that we wanted to do was build a clinical trial centre."

"The biggest part is being motivated by our patients. Every day when we see the patients that go through this with such grace," she said. 

For Warman Chardon, the collaboration among such a high concentrations of researchers and doctors working on neuromuscular diseases is very exciting. 

"That's the game changer. Being able to work with our basic science colleagues who are doing excellent work in the lab with cells and mice models, really for us, we will have so much more information working with them," she said. 

"And also from the patient perspective and the physician perspective, they can take a skin biopsy and turn that into a nerve cell and be able to test certain medications and see if that's effective treatment."

(Reporting by Asha Bajaj