Campus to Community: Sharing stories from our ongoing connections
St. Francis Xavier University doesn't stop at the edge of campus. Campus to Community is an ongoing series highlighting the deep ties between StFX and the communities it serves. We’re shining a light on these relationships--from research labs and global outreach, to service and shared purpose--and how they help shape and strengthen both. To see the full series, please see HERE.
Building better mental health and addictions care in northern and eastern Nova Scotia
For people living in rural Nova Scotia, finding mental health or substance use health support can mean travelling long distances, navigating limited services, waiting for care, or leaving the community to find the help they need. Dr. Jill Murphy, Research Chair in Mental Health and Addictions at StFX, is leading a two-year collaborative study to find out what can be done about it.
"We're looking to understand what services are available, what is working, where the barriers are, and what those with lived experience and service providers believe should be prioritized to strengthen rural mental health care," says Dr. Murphy, who has partnered with the Pictou County Community Health Centre and Eastern Zone Community Health Board representatives.
The project is funded by Research Nova Scotia and focuses on Pictou, Antigonish, Guysborough, Inverness and Cape Breton counties.
A key partner is a 12-person advisory council of people with lived experience of mental health and substance use health. The panel members participate in all aspects of the project, from helping shape the research questions to co-authoring the resulting papers.
"We want to make sure their voices are central to the project," Dr. Murphy says. “We want to hear from the voices of the people, how we can and should improve it.”
WORK COLLABORATIVELY TO FIND WAYS TO ADDRESS BARRIERS
Susan MacConnell, Executive Director of the Pictou County Community Health Centre, says people living in rural communities in Pictou County face many barriers to accessing the mental health services they need.
“This project allows us to explore these barriers in depth and to work collaboratively to find ways to address them. Clients and partners of the Pictou County Community Health Centre will benefit from the outcomes of this project through increased awareness of existing mental health resources and services and a greater understanding of what is needed in rural communities to support mental health,” she says.
The study is built around three phases. Working with research assistants Kyrae Carvery and Madison Weston, both StFX Bachelor of Arts and Science in Health students, researchers began with rapid service mapping to catalogue the mental health and substance use services available across the five counties. A publication based on that mapping is now being finalized and will be made publicly available.
The second phase involved interviews with roughly 30 service providers, offering a view of the system from the people delivering care.
The third phase, which took place in October, turned to community members directly with workshop-style consultations where people with lived experience of mental health and substance use health identified their priorities for improving access to care.
The need is well documented. Nova Scotia has one of the highest rates of mental health and substance use health challenges in the country, Dr. Murphy notes, while also carrying a large rural population. Many specialized services remain concentrated in Halifax, leaving rural residents to travel for care. A shortage of family doctors compounds the problem, since primary care providers are often the first point of contact for people seeking help.
Mental health concerns have also grown since the COVID-19 pandemic, she says, driven further by rising living costs, affordable-housing pressures, and uncertainty about the future and climate. All have ripple effects outward such as housing instability and family violence.
"There are lots of barriers," she says. "But there are also lots of strengths."
The study wraps up in March, with findings to be shared with the community and policymakers, and published in scientific journals.
"I'm excited to be able to communicate back to the community and policy partners," Dr. Murphy says, "providing them with feedback that can lead to how services are delivered."
She says she's grateful for everyone's willingness to collaborate on this important issue, and says the study is the first step in what she hopes will turn into a much larger project.
For more on Dr. Murphy’s work, please see REACH Lab | Research for Equitable and Accessible Mental Health Care
