Focus Updates

Mental Health Week: Real conversations about mental health and suicide prevention

Next week is Mental Health Week – May 3 to 9. It’s the Canadian Mental Health Association’s (CMHA’s) annual campaign to raise mental health awareness. This year’s campaign is asking Canadians to “#GetReal about how you feel.” 

To support this campaign, we’re engaging in an honest conversation with Clients and their plan members about a difficult mental health topic: suicide. We’re encouraging those experiencing thoughts of suicide to talk to others and seek help. We’re reaching out to you, Clients and plan members with resources that can help those who are struggling.

Why the focus on suicide prevention?

On average, more than 10 Canadians die by suicide each day. For every person lost to suicide, many more experience thoughts of suicide or suicide attempts. With every death by suicide, anywhere from seven to 10 survivors are significantly affected by the loss.

We recognize this is a difficult topic for employers to navigate. That’s why we’re supporting them with resources that can help address suicide prevention in their organizations. To start the conversation, we’ll be sending out the following communications:

Maintaining the focus on mental health

Our Mental Health Week outreach supports one of the most challenging mental health topics: suicide prevention. We hope that Clients take up the challenge and share our resource information with their employees. We encourage all stakeholders to #GetReal about how they feel.

Questions? We’re here to help.

Please contact your Sun Life Group Benefits representative.