Rosanne Nelson knows her son better than anyone. She knows he is a talented musician who played in a band with his brother for years. He is a hard-working student who beat the odds and finished his degree despite ongoing health challenges. He is a middle child with an unquenchable thirst for knowledge. But she…
"There are only so many ways to fix a broken leg," says Debi Morris. "But if you have five patients with a mood disorder, there will be so many ways you will approach treatment." For Debi, the field of Mental Health and Substance Use (MHSU) is fascinating, in part, because care and treatment needs to…
Fifty-year-old Shane is an active volunteer, a former hockey player and a trivia buff. Like many couples, he and his wife Joanne often tease each other. “She doesn’t have a volume switch. I’ve been trying to find it for years,” he says of Joanne, who is so soft-spoken you need to lean in close to…
We live in a society that not only normalizes alcohol use, but seems to endorse it. “It’s 5 o’clock somewhere,” after all. Alcohol consumption has been steadily increasing over the years, and according to the University of Victoria alcohol monitoring project, people living in the Interior Health region have the highest rate of alcohol consumption…
More than four years ago B.C. declared a public health emergency in the face of unprecedented overdose deaths. Since that time, more than 789 lives have been lost within the Interior Health community. Important progress has been made and the evidence is promising. Research from the BC Centre for Disease Control shows that harm reduction…
A cove is considered a safe harbour in a storm. “Bro’s Cove” in Cranbrook is no different. The men’s consignment store opened in September 2018 and is run by the Kootenay Initiative Program (KIP), one of Interior Health’s Community Mental Health Programs. It offers support and training for men with mental illness. “It isn’t just…
A psychiatrist who has worked with challenging patients for 17 years without one violent incident might be excused for forgetting all safety protocols when a teenage patient suddenly attacked him. Dr. Michael Ocana learned many lessons that day, six months ago, and he has been sharing them with his colleagues in hopes of helping them…
Walking around your neighborhood or local shops at this time of year, there is a constant reminder that the holidays are a time of happiness and celebration with family and friends. But if you are grieving the death of a loved one or have experienced another type of loss, the holidays can often magnify that…