Learning to Live 

Acute Care, Abbie J. Lane Eating Disorders Clinic
A program to help eating disorder patients to re-learn how to relate to their bodies in healthy and positive ways in a public world that focuses so much on body image through a variety of activities including arts and crafts, community outings and yoga. 

Living Leisure, Loving Life

Acute Care, 6 & 7 Abbie J. Lane
Living Leisure, Loving Life is a community integration program that focuses on providing regular access to leisure activities in the community. Many of these activities will be sustainable upon their discharge and will help contribute to their health and well being. Skill development areas include: using public transportation, knowledge of and participation in community clubhouses and recreational and athletic activities. 

Soul Strumming

Acute Care, 6 & 7 Abbie J. Lane
Soul Strumming works to help patients increase skill development. Music is the only group at the Abbie where a patient’s level of illness does not matter; for example, patients experiencing mania and/or psychotic symptoms can attend, where other groups require a certain level of wellness. Clients gain new coping mechanisms and musical skills and are also connected to programs in the community that help maintain their level of welness. 

Wellness Garden 

Acute Care, 6 & 7 Abbie J. Lane
This program allows clients to socialize in a non-clinical setting, grow new interests, build confidence in meal preparation, and promote discharge readiness. The Wellness Garden also provides clinicians an opportunity to learn more about the patient's psychomotor and psychosocial living in a more normalized setting.

Community Connections

Community Mental Health, West Hants
This project is aimed at supporting clients in accessing and finding success in their community. Through addressing five main areas including transportation, employment, socialization, education and recreation, individuals will be better able to thrive. 

Emergency Funding 

Connections Dartmouth
Connections Dartmouth, one of the Community Mental Health Services through Recovery and Integration Services, embraces the social determinants of health and the directions of the Mental Health Coalition of Nova Scotia. Ultimately, this health and wellness initiative focuses on assisting individuals with being successful tenants in their community by removing barriers in obtaining, maintaining and sustaining an apartment.

Sustainable Tenancy

Connections Halifax
Connections Halifax is a membership organization that builds supportive relationships with clients in the community who are coping with the stresses and challenges of living with mental illness. Many of the clients at Connections have had a history of homelessness or precarious housing where their safety and stability has been at risk.  

Moving Forward, Peer Support 

Specialty Mental Health, Eating Disorders
The Moving Forward Group is an intervention for individuals exiting the Eating Disorders Clinic, through a partnership with the Eating Disorders Project, a peer support group for individuals transitioning from the program, led by trained peer support group facilitators.

Small Space Gardening 

Specialty Mental Health, Day Treatment
The Mental Health Day Treatment Program is an intensive six week group therapy program for adults with mental health problems. The overall objectives of treatment are to reduce overt symptoms, develop coping strategies, improve communication skills, enable individuals to better handle interpersonal relationships, to change dysfunctional thinking and improve overall functioning.

Clothes City

Acute Care, 6 & 7 Abbie J. Lane
Clothes City, an established program, provides clothes and shoes, free of charge, an excellent example of a fully integrated project where no segregation exists between the responsibilities and participation of mental health consumers and non-consumers. 

Creative Expressions & Art Project

Acute Care, Mayflower Unit
The Creative Expressions & Art Project provides the opportunity to explore individual creativity in a supportive group therapy approach to treatment. This project allows individuals to express feelings and experiences in a variety of innovative ways, while interacting with their peers. 

Discover Nature

Acute Care, Mayflower Unit
The Discover Nature Project provideshe opportunity to explore outdoor adventure in a supportive group therapy approach to treatment. Through monthly sessions, participants are able to not only learn and enhance outdoor skills, but also be exposed to thinking on how to minimize environmental impact. 

Fresh Start

Acute Care, Mayflower Unit
The Fresh Start Project provides "a fresh start" when transitioning back to the community and provides essential living needs as well as promotion of good nutrition, health, well-being, and comfort.  

Fun with Food 

Acute Care, 6 & 7 Abbie J. Lane
The Fun with Food program is designed to support skill building and rehabilitation for individuals experiencing mental health issues. Healthy eating is not only an important factor to a person’s physical health but it also plays an important role in social and leisure opportunities. The Fun with Food program consists of four separate programs (lunch outings, meal preparation, cooking classes, and theme days) to help improve social interaction skills, learn about healthier options and the Canada Food Guide, and gain confidence through preparing meals.

Get Up and Go!

Acute Care, Mayflower Unit
The Get Up and Go! project focuses on the recovery of participants from the Mayflower Unit by supporting them in their first steps to returning to their communities. Clients engage in shared experiences with others, learn skills, and are motivated to reestablish connections to leisure. Leisure education allows clients to gain self-confidence and independence, providing opportunities to explore personal leisure attitudes, awareness, values and perceived barriers in order to better understand the decision making processes and one’s lifestyle choices.

Inpatient Wellness Group

Acute Care, 6 & 7 Abbie J. Lane
The Inpatient Wellness Group offers opportunities for patients to try different wellness and coping strategies in the community. Patients also learn about resources that will continue to be available to them after discharge. Additionally, this program offers community based groups to explore resources for engagement in meaningful occupations (i.e. work, volunteer and educational programs) and develop life skills (i.e. cooking, budgeting, and using the bus). 

Now You’re Cooking 

Acute Care, Mayflower Unit
The Now You’re Cooking project provides the opportunity to explore cooking and baking in a supportive group therapy approach to treatment. Clients have the opportunity to prepare healthy snacks while interacting with their peers. Additionally, clients acquire knowledge, skills, and the confidence to prepare healthy snacks. 

Photovoice Project

Acute Care, Mayflower Unit
The Photovoice program is a photography-based recreation therapy intervention program that combines the hands- on activity of taking photographs with an open discussion forum for sharing thoughts, perceptions, with others, and enables them to find their voice via photography. 

Arts & Creativity 

Recovery & Integration, Community Transition
The Arts & Creativity group allows patients to explore and self express in a therapeutic setting. Activities include scrapbooking group, photography group, sewing group, holiday planning and event planning. Participation within a group provides an opportunity to interact amongst others while increasing self esteem and building confidence.

Community Connections 

Recovery & Integration, Simpson Landing/Transition Hall
The Community Connections project works to slowly re-integrate clients into the community through recreation outings and activities. This project is supports clients of Recovery & Integration Services to work toward community re-integration at a time when they are willing, ready, and able to do so. Community Connections provides clients with the opportunity to share and engage in their community through trips to coffee shops, malls, walking trails, movie theatres, hockey games, etc., building confidence and social skills.

Meaningful Experiences in Leisure and Recreation

Recovery & Integration, Connections Dartmouth    
This project focuses on supporting people with severe and persistent mental illnesses in their recovery with an effective leisure sampling program. This grant supports short-term leisure activities and events as well as equipment, gear, and membership fees for longer term involvement in various community recreation services and fitness centers.

Kitchen Corner 

Recovery & Integration, Community Transition 
Kitchen Corner is a social and skills building cooking and baking program offered to residents and their families to promote health and well being while providing them with positive social interaction.  This fun and creative skills program provides instruction in basic cooking/baking skills to those coping with a severe and persistent mental illness or a complex medical need. 

Let’s Get Better Together  

Recovery & Integration, Simpson Landing/ Transition Hall
Let's Get Better Together, a social approach to recovery, is an initiative that focuses on patient wellness by providing social activities to the clients of Transition Hall and Simpson Landing. The groups offer activity choices which focus on client strengths, provide an opportunity to participate in normalized activities, and allow individuals to become involved in their care. Read Nadine' Story

Building a Life Worth Living

Specialty Mental Health, BPDT Program
A core component of the Borderline Personality Disorder Treatment Program (BPDTP) is the Wellness and Self Expression Group. The general purpose of this group has been to increase clients’ health and sense of well being. At a year-end retreat, the program clinicians decided to expand the wellness group to include values clarification, which would help clients deepen their motivation to build a "life worth living."

ECHO Community Outreach Workshop   

Specialty Mental Health, Eating Disorders Clinic                                                  
CDHA’s Eating Disorder Clinic provides tertiary care to adults suffering from anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa and their families from across Nova Scotia.Through distribution of the ‘Caring for Someone with an Eating Disorder’ informational DVD, this grant aims to help educate and support loved ones.

Girls Group                                                                                        

Specialty Mental Health, Emerald Hall 
Girls Group provides female clients of Emerald Hall with a private forum to discuss women's health issues, to enhance hygiene and grooming skills, and to increase independence and self-esteem. Girls Group provides an environment where clients are encouraged to make choices and express their individuality by providing an opportunity to use different make-up and hygiene products, etc. 

Stayin’ Alive as We Age

Specialty Mental Health, Seniors Mental Health
The Seniors Mental Health Team is an interdisciplinary specialty service for the district and the province of Nova Scotia.  It provides community outreach, outpatient appointments, and inpatient care.  Within the Seniors Mental Health Team is the Seniors Healthy Living Program, which offers a variety of psychotherapeutic, psychoeducational and health promotion groups to seniors living in the community. Read Tom and Brian's Story

Recreation on Emerald & ICT

Specialty Mental Health, Emerald Hall
The goal of Recreation on Emerald is to engage clients in physical and leisure activities as a means to improve their physical fitness and mental well being. Recreation and leisure opportunities also allow clients to learn and practice effective coping skills, learn how to transfer new life-skills to a community setting, increase community access, empower clients to make decisions and improve overall quality of life.

Special Events on Emerald Hall   

Specialty Mental Health, Emerald Hall
This grant provides funding for Emerald Hall’s “Special Events” such as the Family Christmas Party, Family Barbeque, Family Support and Spring Tea, Valentine’s Day Party, Halloween Party and Easter Party. These events assist in normalizing the lives of the patients of Emerald Hall by providing opportunities for many of the patients to gain or practice social skills, make crafts, decorate the unit, visit with family and enjoy food and beverages together as they would at home in the community.

Moving Forward  

Recovery & Integration, Simpson Landing / Transition Hall
This project provides financial support to clients who are leaving the hospital and going into an independent living situation.  Venturing out on one’s own for the first time or restarting on fresh ground can be a very exciting, yet overwhelming experience.  Expected feelings of stress and/or anxiety can be compounded when finances present an issue. Individuals receive assistance securing apartments, funding for items such as a bed or table, and a personal allowance for groceries.