JCB Partners:
The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), Bioethics Service
People and Roles:
Barbara Russell is the bioethicist at CAMH. The Bioethics Service is part of the portfolio of Susan Pigott, Vice President Communications and Community Engagement.
Program Description:
The Service is dedicated to client well-being and organizational integrity. The Service provides specialized help with clinical and organizational ethics questions and concerns; more specifically:
- providing ethical analysis and advice about an immediate care or administrative opportunity, question, concern or a recurring situation
- teaching ethical knowledge and skills to students, clinical staff, employees, and management
- offering advice in policy development/review
- encouraging dialogue and reflection about the relationships, practices, and perspectives involved in helping and supporting people who have or are recovering from a mental illness and/or addiction problem
Major Work Underway (as of Summer 2007):
- leading and collaborating with clinical management to create a "Hub and Spokes" infrastructure across the four hospitals and affiliated offices. This infrastructure involves having a clinical team/unit member serve as the ethics facilitator for that team or unit. Each facilitator works with the bioethicist on an ongoing basis. The goals are to: (1) promote the transfer and everyday use of specialized knowledge, skills, and resources from the bioethicist to those who work directly with CAMH’s clients and families and; (2) have teams and their members’ ethics-related questions and needs met in a responsive and supportive way
- supporting the Ethics Committee of CAMH’s Board of Trustees
- assisting staff and management’s preparation for the ethics-related questions in the 2008 CCHSA Accreditation survey of CAMH
Website:
The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health 
Contact Information:
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Barbara Russell, PhD, MBA |
