Cambrian, CMHA-S/M partner to provide mental health teaching materials

Cambrian College and the Sudbury/Manitoulin branch of the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA-S/M) have partnered to develop mental-health-related teaching materials for health sciences students. The two institutions worked in collaboration with people with lived experiences of mental health concerns to create an immersive, interactive, and free-to-use virtual simulation. The simulation will be made available to Cambrian health sciences students starting in the 2023-24 academic year. “What we discovered is there is a gap in knowledge and confidence among students working with clients living with a mental health condition,” said Cambrian faculty member Natalie Chevalier, who noted that CMHA-S/M’s knowledge and perspective was invaluable to developing the tool. Cambrian and CMHA-S/M have stated that they aim to refine the teaching tools in the future and share them with other institutions.