Telus to expand mental health support for Canadian women

Telus Communications has announced free access to counselling services for Canadian women in need of mental health support.

The company has announced the expansion of its Health for Good programme to provide access to counselling to the growing number of women struggling with their mental health.

The services will offer direct access to counselling provided by registered mental health professionals in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario and Quebec.

Partnering with three women-focused charities, Dress for Success Vancouver, Mamas for Mamas and YWCA Metro Vancouver, the telecom company says it will provide over 1,000 free counselling sessions per year.

“The pandemic has taken a toll on mothers, family caregivers, women and gender diverse people,” said Jill Schnarr, chief social innovation and communications officer at Telus.

“As a world-leading technology company and a global health care leader, we are leveraging our technology, expertise and compassion for good.

“Helping more women through our Telus Health for Good programme, this expansion is focused on removing barriers, making it easier and more affordable to access mental health services and making a meaningful difference in their lives.”

The programme expansion, which involves the Telus Health MyCare app, covers the cost of providing women experiencing marginalisation with access to mental health services and well-being support, aiming to remove the stigma and expense often encountered when accessing preventative allied health care.

Juggy Sihota, chief growth officer at Telus Health, said: “For more than a decade Telus Health has been focused on revolutionising health care delivery and improving access to care for people globally to address some of the most pressing issues.

“Expanding our Health for Good programme to include counselling sessions with our incredible mental health professionals furthers that mission and fills a gap – ensuring much needed mental health support is more easily accessible.”

With the Canadian Women’s Foundation report recently highlighting a 45 per cent difference in the rates of high levels of depression between mothers and the general population, Sihota says the expansion will add a critical service for women and mothers in need.

Erin Seeley, CEO at YWCA Metro Vancouver, said: “Accessing counselling often comes with barriers such as cost, time constraints, accessibility and stigma.

“Telus Health for Good is helping to break many of these barriers by offering YWCA Metro Vancouver program participants free, online counselling services.

“We are grateful to once again be partnering with Telus on this important community initiative.”