Welcome and Introduction from the Chairs

Janice E. Blackburn, Bersenas Jacobsen Chouest Thomson Blackburn LLP, Toronto, Ontario
Michael Newman, Vice Chair, Senior Lawyer Member Consent and Capacity Board, Toronto, Ontario

Anita Szigeti, Hiltz Szigeti LLP, Toronto, Ontario
Michael Newman, Vice Chair, Senior Lawyer Member Consent and Capacity Board, Toronto, Ontario

• The latest on general principles on involuntary admission
• Recent developments
• Capacity assessments – key concerns and conundrums on the frontline
  • what are the key tenets for assessment?
  • avoiding personal bias
  • suspending one’s own belief/value systems
• Resolving conflicts with substitute decision-makers
• Case studies

Dr. Howard Barbaree, Professor and Clinical Director Law and Mental Health Program, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), Toronto, Ontario
Mary Jane Dykeman, Dykeman Dewhirst O’Brien LLP, Toronto, Ontario
Diana S. Schell, Counsel, Legal Services Branch, Ontario Ministry of Health & Long-Term Care

• Search and seizure in mental health units
  • dos and don’ts
• Suicide/self-harm: effectively assessing patients at risk of suicide
• Protecting the suicidal patient
• What are the current rules regarding the use of restraints?
• Case studies: the lessons to be learned

Children and Adolescents’ Mental Health Law Issues: What You Need to Know

Daphne G. Jarvis, Borden Ladner Gervais LLP, Toronto, Ontario
Dr. Derryck Smith, Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia

When it comes to dealing with children and adolescents with mental health issues, there are a number of key factors that must be taken into account, including specific rules relating to consent to treatment, refusal of treatment, the role of the substitute decision maker and confidentiality issues. Dr. Derryck Smith and Daphne Jarvis will highlight the unique practical issues in this demanding area.

Michael Bay, Barrister & Solicitor, North York, Ontario

• CTO criteria
• Contents of a treatment plan
• Clinical considerations
• The role of the rights advisor
• Ethics and practicality of CTOs

Chief Terry Coleman, (ret’d) Moose Jaw Police Service, Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan

In this session, Chief Terry Coleman (ret’d) will look at the developing role of the police services when dealing with persons who have a mental illness, and what is being done to ensure more effective liaison models between the police and mental health services.

• Effective training of police to understand mental health issues – what’s happening out there?
• Effective liaison models – what’s currently out there, and what is working?
• Developing appropriate guidelines/policies to foster constructive relationships between the police and mental health services – tips and tools

Professor H. Archibald Kaiser, Dalhousie Law School, Halifax, Nova Scotia

Effective and timely advocacy support is essential in the provision of mental health services because people who use them can be dis-empowered by the rules, procedures and people providing those services. As a consequence, their legal rights may be infringed. Professor H. Archibald Kaiser highlights the obstacles facing those who provide advocacy support for individuals with mental illness, and how to overcome them.

Moderator
Robert E. Cunningham, President & CEO, Northeast Mental Health Centre (NEMHC), Sudbury and North Bay, Ontario

Panellists
Kate Dewhirst, Dykeman Dewhirst O’Brien LLP, Toronto, Ontario
Lena Zwicker, Director, Risk, Quality and Employee Health Services, Mental Health Centre Penetanguishene, Ontario
Joanna Noble, Supervisor, Risk Management, HIROC

Psychiatric settings provide unique challenges for effective risk management. This experienced panel will examine the core principles of risk management as they apply in such a setting, and highlight those strategies and tactics best suited to managing risk effectively, and in so doing, providing better health outcomes for patients.

Moderator
Janice E. Blackburn, Bersenas Jacobsen Chouest Thomson Blackburn LLP

Panellists
Dr. Mary Ann Campbell, Director of the Centre for Criminal Justice Studies, University of New Brunswick, Saint John, New Brunswick
Dr. Scott Woodside, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), Toronto, Ontario
Dr. Marnie E. Rice, Director of Research Emerita Mental Health Centre, Penetanguishene

• Three main approaches for assessing the risk of violence
  • clinical approach
  • actuarial approach
  • structured clinical judgment
• Standard of care when assessing risk of violence
• The role of the expert
• Challenging the expert