This is session three in our 5-part series: The Future of Primary Care in BC.
Session 3: How primary care can address the growing mental health crisis in BC explores what it means to respond to the mental health crisis through primary care, rather than treating mental health as an “add-on” or separate system. We connect mental health to the social determinants of health and consider what primary care teams need—skills development, staffing models and connections to community services—to address both immediate distress and underlying factors.
This approach is key to how mental health supports can strengthen chronic disease management as depression, anxiety, pain and isolation often shape a person’s ability to manage long-term conditions. Finally, we will discuss what it takes to embed that support into the daily practice of primary care and community-based services.
Panelists
Kim MacKenzie, Senior Director of Policy and Systems Transformation, Canadian Mental Health Association – BC Division
Stephany Berinstein, Director of Recovery and Integration, Canadian Mental Health Association – BC Division
Julie Zimmerman, Provincial Director, Primary Care and Virtual Services, Foundry
Dawn Creach, Principal Consultant and Chief Executive Officer, Creach Consulting Group
Other resources mentioned in this session
🔗 Canadian Mental Health Association–BC Division: https://bc.cmha.ca/
đź”— Foundry BC: https://foundrybc.ca/
đź”— Creach Consulting Group https://creachconsultingllc.com/
đź“– Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) – The Crisis Is Real https://www.camh.ca/en/driving-change/the-crisis-is-real
đź“– Degree of Behavioral Health Integration and Patient Outcomes
Benjamin Littenberg, Levi Bonnell, Peter Callas, Juvena Hitt, C. R. Macchi, Matt Martin, Mindy L. McEntee, Daniel J. Mullin, Gail L. Rose, Constance van Eeghen
The Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine Sep 2025, 38 (5) 834-845; DOI: 10.3122/jabfm.2025.250052R1https://www.jabfm.org/content/38/5/834
đź“– Amanda Kwan, Madelyn Whyte, Kirsten McCullough, Matthew Wenger, Stephany Berinstein, Jonathan Morris, and Skye Barbic. 2025. The Need for a Sustainable System for Supported Employment: Expanding Individual Placement and Support (IPS) for Youth in Integrated Youth Services and Adults in Primary Healthcare. Canadian Journal of Community Mental Health. 44(1): 89-93. https://doi.org/10.7870/cjcmh-2025-007
đź“– Social prescribing: https://www.allianceon.org/Social%20Prescribing
🧑‍💻 Session 4: Optimizing nursing roles—building a stronger not-for-profit team-based primary care sector. Register here.
🧑‍💻 Session 5: Learning from Oregon’s success: improving health care while lowering costs. Register here.