Q1 Update – April 2024

Happy Spring! As a reminder, the MHIC will post a communique every quarter to update stakeholders on work related to implementing the Mental Health Strategy for High-Performance Sport in Canada.

MHIC Member Update

With Wayne Lomas (he/him) stepping down from his post at Swimming Canada, the MHIC is pleased to announce that Ian Mortimer (he/him), the Chief Technical Officer of Canoe Kayak Canada, will join the MHIC as the new NSO Representative (imortimer@canoekayak.ca). 

Inaugural Symposium on Culture of Excellence in High-Performance

The inaugural symposium on Culture of Excellence in High-Performance Sport was held in Calgary on March 27-28, 2024. The Symposium highlighted several key messages and takeaways aimed at fostering a Culture of Excellence within Canadian high-performance sport. 

• Common themes included the need for clarity, regular communication, building trust, addressing power imbalances, and facilitating difficult conversations. 
• To drive positive culture change, strategies such as creating safe spaces, engaging stakeholders, and integrating mental health and wellness initiatives were emphasized. 
• Speakers emphasized the importance of “winning well,” which involves prioritizing both people and performance and acknowledged that cultivating such a culture is a continuous journey that requires intentional effort. 

Overall, the symposium underscored the importance of holistic approaches to culture, incorporating mental health support, fostering inclusivity, and aligning organizational values with athlete well-being. 

Resource Development

In collaboration with the COPSIN Mental Health Leads, Game Plan has been developing a suite of new mental health resources. Coming in May will be sport-informed factsheets on the most common mental illnesses in athletes (ADHD, Anxiety, Depression, OCD, Perfectionism, and Sleep) and accompanying recorded webinar sessions, in addition to a mental health decision tree for coaches and support staff and a tips and tricks document for choosing a sport-informed mental health provider. All resources will be housed on the Game Plan Mental Health webpage. We wish to thank the Mental Health Leads nationwide for their efforts in developing these resources. Stay tuned for additional resources launching in the coming months!

Return to Sport and Removal from Sport Task Force

The Return to Sport and Removal from Sport Task Force, led by Game Plan, convened its first meeting on April 12th, 2024. The task force is Chaired by Dr. Andy Marshall (dCMO) and vice-chaired by Dr. Mike Wilkinson (CMO), and the task force brings together experts from various medical, psychological, and athlete welfare backgrounds to address critical issues around athlete well-being:

• Dr. Paddy McCluskey (CMO CSIP)
• Dr. Lindsay Bradley (CMO 2024 Paris Games CPC)
• Dr. Andy Van Neutegem (VP OTP)
• Dr. Araba (Ru) Chintoh (Retired athlete, Psychiatrist and player welfare expert)
• Lisa Hoffart (Game Plan Advisor and Games MH Lead COC)
• Sharleen Hoar (HPAC Lead, MPC)
• Susan Cockle (Psychologist, Games MH Lead CPC)
• Alexis Gagnon-Dolbec (Psychologist INS)
• Christine Girard (Retired athlete, MH OT, Chef de mission 2023 Pan Am Games)

Discussions centred on refining terminology, aligning protocols with the Mental Health Strategy, and developing a comprehensive protocol for handling psychological injuries in athletes. 

The Return to Sport protocol will be based upon the work done by Alexis Gagnon-Dolbec at INS with Speed Skating Canada. The Removal from Sport Protocol will be entirely newly developed.  If any other sports have protocols or are actively engaged in development on either of these topics, please contact Cara at cbutton@mygameplan.ca.

Friends and Family OLY Webinar

Optimally Supporting Your Olympian: Virtual Session for Friends and Family of Paris-Bound Athletes

Game Plan is pleased to present once again a one-hour virtual learning session for family and friends (F&F) of athletes attending the 2024 Paris Summer Olympic Games. 

In this session, Clare Fewster and Heidi Malo will prepare parents, spouses, friends, and loved ones to optimally support their Olympic athlete in Paris and from a distance. Paralympic sessions will be scheduled soon.

When: English – Wednesday, May 22, 2024 at 7 pm EST

French – Thursday, May 23, 2024 at 7 pm EST

Link to Register: 

English Session – https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_N9vnoIL_RzG0HCLvOV5T0w 

French Session – https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_ZoEugQroQii3-ihqptimBA

Questions: Contact Lee Allison Clark (lclark@mygameplan.ca), Manager of Mental Health at Game Plan and At Home Family & Friends Officer.

Friends and Family PLY Webinar

Optimally Supporting Your Paralympian: Virtual Session for Friends and Family of Paris-Bound Athletes will be scheduled soon!

CCMHS and Mental Health Network Updates

April 1, 2024, brought a new two-year term for the mental health network (MHN) providers! A new hourly rate was enacted (based on provincial recommended rates), and the requirement to sign the UCCMS Informed Consent Form (as Game Plan via the Canadian Olympic Committee is a signatory). We are excited for another two-year term with MHN providers who provide essential sport-informed mental health care to high-performance athletes and coaches.

As a reminder, practitioners within the Mental Health Network will respond to all inquiries within 72 hours. Due to privacy limitations, those who connected an athlete to the MHN or Game Plan MH Coordinator will not be notified of the athlete’s connection with a therapist unless the athlete consents to share that information.

Below are some highlights related to sport-informed mental health care from the last fiscal year. To note, the 2023-24 FY saw a decrease in unique referrals compared to the 2022-23 FY, but an increase was seen in the 2023 calendar year overall—this is due to the increase in service utilization during the deployment of the emergency mental health funding in early 2023 (late 2022-23 FY).

Deloitte managed a survey sent to users of the MHN and CCMHS so that Game Plan could evaluate the care athletes and coaches are receiving and the process for obtaining care. Below are some notable results.

Demographics

The MHIC At A Glance

Accessing Mental Health Support

We encourage carded and national-team athletes and coaches to use the support Game Plan offers (individual mental health action plans, education, and $2500 yearly for subsidized mental health support) and support for staff and organizations. Contact your COPSIN-affiliated Game Plan Advisor or Mental Health Lead for more information. If you don’t have an affiliation with COPSIN or have any questions, please contact Lee Allison Clark (lclark@mygameplan.ca).

Game Plan Advisors and Mental Health Leads

CSI Pacific: Candice Drouin (she/her), Game Plan Advisor | Lauren McBride (she/her), Mental Health Lead (lmcbride@csipacific.ca)

CSI Calgary: Amy Van Buskirk (she/her), Game Plan Advisor | Clare Fewster (she/her), Mental Health Lead (fewster@csicalgary.ca)

CSC Saskatchewan: Lisa Hoffart (she/her), Game Plan Advisor

CSC Manitoba: Kevin Kristjanson (he/him), Mental Health Lead (kevin@cscm.ca)

CSI Ontario: Dominique Bosshart (she/her), Game Plan Advisor | Heather Wheeler (she/her), Mental Health Lead (hwheeler@csiontario.ca)

INS (Quebec): Sophie Brassard (she/her), Game Plan Advisor | NEW! Heidi Malo (she/her), Mental Health Lead (hmalo@insquenec.ca)

CSI Atlantic: Sarah Morris (she/her), Game Plan Advisor

Games Mental Health Leads

Dr. Karen MacNeill (she/her), Paris 2024 Olympics

Lisa Hoffart (she/her), Paris 2024 Olympics

Susan Cockle (she/her), Paris 2024 Paralympics

The next MHIC meeting will occur in June, with our next Communique coming in July.