Bruce County council is using mental health awareness week to establish its own mental health program for its employees.
Council adopted the new workplace mental health program, which sets out procedures and programs for prevention, treatment and recovery from mental health illnesses.
Warden Mitch Twolan says the county wanted to show leadership in establishing such a detailed program, making sure their employees feel comfortable coming forward if they are dealing with a mental health issue.
"It is incumbent on us as employers to try and help those people if they're having programs and to identify those problems and to help those people that may be a little resilient to come forward and say 'I need some help,'" says Twolan.
Twolan says mental health is a topic that was largely ignored in the past, but it's encouraging that it's no longer the case.
"I think as a society, people just swept issues like mental health under the rug and let somebody else try to deal with it," says Twolan. "Bruce County is trying to be a leader and deal with this head-on and I think that's very important as leaders in the community to do that."
Twolan says the county's health and wellness committee will be working with senior management to develop an action plan for the new mental health program.
