Founded in 1955, association has a deep knowledge of psychological safety
As one of the oldest mental health associations in Canada, Mouvement Santé mentale Québec (MSMQ) knows a thing or two about psychological safety.
Founded in 1955 as the Association canadienne d’hygiène mentale, MSMQ is a grouping of different community organizations that exist throughout Quebec to promote optimal mental health.
With over 65 years of experience under its belt, MSMQ’s mandate is to “work together to promote solutions and prevent mental health issues.
This means working to develop campaigns, tools, skills, political campaigns to create, develop and positively reinforce mental health,” says Renée Ouimet, who has been Director of Mouvement Santé mentale Québec for the last 10 years.
Ouimet explains that in Quebec, like in all provinces across Canada, there has been an increase among youth, among business owners, and among workers in issues such as anxiety and depression as a consequence of the pandemic.
Mental health has also been impacted by remote work, where employers may feel isolated or disconnected from their fellow workers.
She says that a study was done among business owners in the province which revealed that 50 per cent of those surveyed say they suffered from moderate to severe anxiety, and 77 per cent said that they were suffering from a mental overload.
“These numbers are very high, and very revealing,” says Ouimet.
As part of its wider campaign, MSMQ decided that every year, it would encourage employers to put into place at least one initiative to help improve mental health in the workplace. It has created a survey which employers can use to target its initiatives:
“This year, we launched a survey, because the first thing to do is always to ask employees what they want,” says Ouimet.
In the survey, the organization asks what is most important for the worker: is it either a better recognition of mental health in the workplace, or do you need help removing impediments in the workplace.
Would you like better recognition of mental health in your workplace, or do you want us to work on removing obstacles at work – “in workplaces where there is no recognition [of mental health], there is a lot more distress,” says Ouimet.
Based on what workers prefer, MSMQ offers different, simple tools and ideas to help employers to improve mental health in the workplace, says Ouimet:
“Everything is simple so that [the tools] can be applied to any workplace.”
As well as they survey and the simple tools, every year in November the organization encourages workplaces to celebrate “La fête des voisins au travail” (essentially, a work neighbours party – or a celebration among colleagues). This will be the eighth year the event is held.
A good relationship with colleagues is an important part of our social net at work, “it’s something which protects our mental health because we know we can speak to a person and ask for help,” says Ouimet.
This is especially important now as workers are more isolated from each other with telework. Depending on COVID protocols, the event can be held in person or virtually – MSMQ suggests quizzes or treasure hunts for example.
More tools and resources (in French) are available on the organization’s website: https://www.mouvementsmq.ca/
