The Canadian Armed Forces experience can be hard to understand, even for someone who’s part of the organization. You can imagine how tough it was for the professionals at The Royal Ottawa Health Care Group, a hospital that helps people living with complex and persistent mental illness, to relate to their patients. This is how this idea came to life, a one-day classroom and practical ‘Army 101’ to better help clinicians understand some of their clients who come from a military background, with the collaboration of the Peace Support Training Centre (PSTC).
The Royal is one of Canada’s foremost mental health care, teaching and research hospitals. Their mandate is to help more people living with mental illness and addiction into recovery faster. Their Operational Stress Injury (OSI) Clinic treats Canadian Forces, veterans and RCMP, and is the only OSI clinic in Canada within a specialized academic mental health centre.
The day kicked off with a classroom session covering mental health preparation for deployment. Then, they had hands-on demonstrations of Canadian Army vehicles, weapons, and personal gear. They also learned about first aid in combat situations and explosive threats. But the highlight? The professionals from Royal got to try on frag vests and heft heavy rucksacks to get a feel for what it’s like to be in the Canadian Army.
Sara Caird, a psychologist at the clinic, said, “I work with many female veterans. They often talk to me about chronic pain related to their work and ruck marches they underwent, saying I can’t understand because I’ve never experienced it. Today, I got to wear the same gear they talked about, hold a rifle, and sit in the back of an armored vehicle. It really helps me understand and contextualise the very specific detail of peoples experiences.”
During the event, the group also got to step inside a Bison Armoured Vehicle, provided by 21 Electronic Warfare Regiment, and witness a patrol exercise. The PSTC staff executed a patrol and section attack in full battle rig. “The impact of the day for me was having a glimpse into the sense of heightened danger inherent in being employed in a defence role on an everyday level.” Expressed Maggie Clark-Lamarche, a registered social worker. “This is the first time that I’ve felt that in my body to the degree that I felt it yesterday. The training day presented these aspects of military culture to me in a way that was powerful on a new level.”
The collaborative effort between Royal, a leading mental health care hospital, and the Peace Support Training Centre (PSTC) has proven invaluable in bridging the gap between military experiences and civilian understanding. The ‘Army 101’ initiative provided clinicians with firsthand insights into the challenges faced by those from a military background. Moving forward, continued collaboration and education initiatives hold promise in ensuring that veterans receive the empathetic and informed care they deserve.
