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Using the CanMEDS domains of Health Advocate and Scholar students will develop advanced knowledge and skills in applying the principles of recovery-oriented care when working with people with three types of comorbidities that may be associated with mental illness: substance disorders, forensic issues and intellectual disability.
The co-occurrence of one or more disorders presents challenges for people with mental illness, their supporters and communities as well as for health practitioners in mental health care management. This is further complicated through issues addressed earlier, where the consumer’s context added compounding social, cultural or other factors that need to be taken into account in the determination and implementation of care.
A recovery-orientation presents the challenge of ensuring that its key principles are aspired to and met, even within highly restrictive environments. Students will familiarise themselves with consumer perspectives of experiencing ‘comorbidity’ and develop skills in health advocacy to support people with complex mental health needs. Social justice, inclusion and citizenship campaigns for the rights of people with disabilities interface with the recovery movement and students will consider these issues in the light of barriers to the application of collaborative recovery-oriented mental health care.
Upon completion of the unit, students will be able to: