While the practice aims, in broad strokes, to protect both the public and the individual in crisis, it can create a number of grave problems for those undergoing hospitalization. People living in poverty or homelessness are overrepresented among the people subjected to psychiatric involuntary admission in Canada. The tragic death of Joyce Echaquan in September of 2020 led to further scrutiny of the practice and brought specific attention to how it was being deployed amongst Indigenous communities.
Professor Emmanuelle Bernheim and Professor Eva Ottawa earned a grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) in 2020, through its Race, Gender and Diversity Initiative, to explore this issue in the Atikamekw community where Echaquan had lived in Manawan, Quebec. Their project aims to recognize the cultural dimension of the concept of mental health. Crucially, while the Canadian health care system treats recovery from mental illness as a matter of individual responsibility, many Indigenous communities view such recovery as a communal process. “They are two different worlds,” says Professor Bernheim. “Yet Indigenous people are treated in hospitals as if they’re the same as everyone in that world.” The research being done by Professor Bernheim and Professor Ottawa promotes Indigenous knowledge as a way of putting an end to the overuse of coercive and culturally inappropriate practices.
This work was recently profiled by the Canada Research Chairs program in an article entitled “Uncovering the impacts of involuntary hospital admissions”, for which Professor Bernheim was interviewed. Visit the linked article title to learn more about the project and how Professor Bernheim hopes to spark broader discussions about the use of involuntary admissions practices.
Holder of the Canada Research Chair in Mental Health and Access to Justice, Professor Bernheim aims to support and promote research by and for people with mental health disorders who wind up in the justice system. Professor Ottawa, meanwhile, works closely with members of Indigenous communities, seeking to identify and value their perspectives, understand their concerns and articulate their aspirations.