Critical Mental Health Services Now Available to LMG Essential Staff

The Listuguj Mi’gmaq Government has hired Luanne Mann, a licensed psychologist, to provide mental health support to critical staff who have been working throughout the closure. This morning, Luanne Mann met with the CEO and the Directors of Health, Administration, and Finance to discuss her hours of work, the scheduling process, and how she approaches her practice. This is part of a new initiative started by LMG to better support staff who are working within a high-pressure environment to meet the demands of delivering essential services during Covid-19.

At this point, our critical staff have been coming to work for six weeks, even though the LMG has been closed for non-essential services due to COVID-19. The CEO said, “many may not realize that the LMG has been operating at about 20% staff levels while providing essential services and a host of entirely new services. This was accomplished while securing additional funds, ensuring that existing programs are meeting expected milestones, fulfilling all reporting requirements, continuing with OSR operations, and dealing with a global pandemic.”

He added, “our staff have been fantastic and have really stepped up to make sure that services are being provided in a stressful environment. But this has not been without a price. Our critical staff have faced tremendous mental pressures, and after 6 weeks without a real break, it is necessary for us to take measures to help everyone cope. Part of this mental health initiative is to have psychological counseling available on-site. We are also providing support through the use of a specially trained individual who is designing materials to help raise awareness and help community members and staff find mental health resources and common coping techniques throughout the pandemic.”

Additional information will be provided to critical staff in the coming days on how they can access these services.