As the impact of COVID-19 was becoming felt worldwide, it became clear that the pandemic wasn’t just a physical threat, but brought mental health concerns as well. While some people would suffer the virus, far more would experience the anxiety, fear, and despair of living in a pandemic.
The Canadian Psychological Association (CPA) is the national association for the science, practice and education of psychology in Canada. Led by its President, Dr. Kim Corace and its CEO, Dr. Karen Cohen, the CPA has more than 6,500 members and affiliates.
CPA’s organizational vision is to use psychological knowledge and practice to advance the health and well being of Canadians. The CPA recognized the pressure this evolving crisis was having on students, educators, teachers, supervisors and practitioners of psychology throughout Canada. In response, the CPA developed a wide range of resources to help them cope with work, family life, relationships and stress during the pandemic.
COVID-19 places a tremendous burden on health care providers to care for those who became sick, particularly those who became very ill. Front line health providers face high volumes of patients, some of whom they feared they may not be able to successfully help because of limited treatments and resources. Canadians with COVID-19 depend on healthcare providers and the well-being of healthcare providers is critical to them being able to do their jobs.
65% of problems presented were for anxiety, followed by fears about the health of self and family
To support the health providers upon whom all Canadians rely in a pandemic, the CPA called on all registered psychology practitioners to donate some of their time to provide psychological services via tele-health to front line health care providers who may be feeling stressed, overwhelmed or distressed by being on the front lines of this health crisis. They also compiled and created a variety of mental health resources and tools to help all Canadians cope during these unprecedented times.
CPA Curated and Created Resources: Pro Bono Services, Webinars, Fact Sheets, Videos, Surveys, Podcast, Newsletter, Alliances
In recognition of the great contributions of the Canadian Psychological Association, and to mark the launch of Interac e-Transfer† for Business, Scotiabank has made a $5,000 donation in the Canadian Psychological Association’s name to Strong Kids Strong Minds, Psychology Canada.
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* Payments can only be issued in $CAD to recipients with online CAD accounts, domiciled at a Canadian Financial Institution with Interac acceptance capability and accessible via that Canadian Financial Institution's online banking platform. A complete list of all participating financial institutions is available here.
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