COVID-19 and Mental Health
Since the onset of the COVID-19 response, Ottawa Public Health (OPH) has continued to work with hospital, mental health and substance use partners, school boards, multicultural community partners, and the general community in the areas of mental health promotion, system navigation and coordination, suicide prevention and post-vention, and reducing harms from substance use.
OPH has continued to offer vital harm reduction services throughout the response and has developed and provided a variety of mental health resources to ensure our community has access to coping strategies, tools and the help they need during this difficult time.
To best support Ottawa residents, our City of Ottawa colleagues and our many partners, OPH has developed a one stop shop to access all mental health and substance use information during COVID-19. The information, resources and services can be found at ottawapublichealth.ca/Covidmentalhealth
A few specific resources to highlight include:
Protect Your Mental Health Series
OPH partnered with the Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre to develop the “Protecting Your Mental Health” Series. These series touch on a variety of topics to support mental health and reduce harms from substance use, including;
- How we can practice being resilient
- How you can help your children cope
- What can you do to stay connected during self-isolation
- What you can do as an older adult
- What can you do as an essential worker
- What can you do when working from home
- What if you lose your job
OPH developed a comprehensive Mental Health Employer Guide to support Ottawa organizations with the mental health of their employees
