{"id":4800,"date":"2022-11-01T13:29:21","date_gmt":"2022-11-01T18:29:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fondationdouglas.qc.ca\/?p=4800"},"modified":"2022-11-01T13:29:22","modified_gmt":"2022-11-01T18:29:22","slug":"building-hope-in-pandemic-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fondationdouglas.qc.ca\/en\/news\/building-hope-in-pandemic-times\/","title":{"rendered":"Building Hope in Pandemic Times"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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To say the last two years have presented new challenges for mental health care and research<\/a> institutes \u2013 and indeed, every individual in our society \u2013 is an understatement. The unprecedented impacts of the pandemic exacerbated an already growing mental health crisis.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

Before the pandemic, 1 in 5 Canadians experienced a mental health problem or illness in any given year. In the first year of the pandemic, the World Health Organization<\/a> recorded a massive increase of 25% in the global prevalence of anxiety and depression. Meanwhile, research showed that 61% of people with a pre-existing mental illness<\/a> felt that their mental health had deteriorated during this period.<\/p>\n

At the Douglas, we felt consequences of the pandemic acutely; at the same time, we are continually humbled by the dedication, selflessness, and agility that our staff demonstrated. The Douglas has in fact played an important and unique role during the pandemic.<\/p>\n

Since March 2020, the Douglas<\/a> has been the place of care for psychiatric patients who test positive for COVID-19 from across the province. We converted a patient unit to serve this purpose, and reconfigured additional space to house patients who cannot immediately return to their homes because of COVID-19. The Douglas also became one of many COVID-19 testing and vaccination sites.<\/p>\n

The pandemic created many challenges, but responding to this evolving situation also presented opportunities to make much-needed investments in our digital and physical infrastructure.<\/p>\n

In addition to adapting our mission to the realities of COVID-19 in the past two years, the Douglas has:<\/h1>\n