This text is part of the special section Philanthropy
Since 2018, Green Shield has invested over $26 million in social impact initiatives. By 2025, its goal is to touch the lives of 850,000 people. If we improve Canadians’ access to oral and mental health care, the effect on their well-being could be even more global.
Donations and partnerships that bring about change: these are two modes of action used by the company to engage in both traditional and transformational philanthropy. Donations made to community organizations make it possible to finance certain projects that improve access to health care: “We are talking about paying for a campaign to help develop a program or paying the salary of a resource that provides health services” , explains Steve Laberge, vice-president of Quebec and strategic solutions at Green Shield.
The not-for-profit company is also forging partnerships to implement initiatives and “signature programs” that will help transform the healthcare system. “We want to demonstrate to government authorities and the population that certain areas of health are underfunded and should be the subject of a global social program. Our approaches allow us to generate studies that will have a weight in public decisions,” explains Steve Laberge.
Eat life with healthy teeth
“Imagine that you are a marginalized person, without insurance, without a job and without money, with a problematic oral situation. You arrive at a clinic where you are treated like an ordinary patient: measurements are taken and your complete condition is assessed, then your dental needs are treated,” describes Steve Laberge. This is what lived near 800 people in 2021 thanks to the Green Access Project, launched in 2020 with the Toronto Faculty of Dentistry thanks to an investment of more than $6 million. In partnership with academic institutions and community health care providers, the project clinics provide essential oral care to vulnerable communities. A new partnership is launched with McGill University, which will develop a clinic in this program in Montreal thanks to a $1.3 million investment from Green Shield.
The needs are enormous, as one in three people in Canada does not have coverage for dental care and dental care is too often sacrificed to finance other necessary expenses. By 2025, Green Shield aims to help 3000 people per year.
This program also funds research that will help change the healthcare system by demonstrating the importance of oral health. “We continually take measures that allow us to quantify the effect of this care on the overall health of its recipients, both physically and mentally (self-confidence, in particular). This has never been done before,” says Steve Laberge. The health of the teeth would therefore have an impact on the smile far beyond what one can imagine.
Women’s mental health
“Women have gone through a bad period with COVID-19,” notes Steve Laberge, thinking of the more than 100,000 Canadian women forced to quit their job or take a sabbatical, but also to those who have had to reduce the number of hours worked or deal with other difficult situations, such as domestic violence. “We invested $1 million and used our own facilities to provide 10,000 hours of mental health support in the form of free online consultations to women in need,” he says.
This initiative was launched in November 2021 with the Espac programshe, which was renewed in 2022 (with a new investment of $1 million) to offer 10,000 additional hours. In its first year, it focused on racialized women in the workplace, who experience high rates of mental health issues and struggle to access support. “The digital mode worked very well,” observes Steve Laberge. We were able to give the women access to a mental health professional within 48 hours and allowed them to get care (one or two sessions followed by an assessment) from their homes. A speed that contrasts with public routes in a system overwhelmed by the influx of requests.
Getting closer to reality
Other projects are funded by Green Shield to improve the health of Canadians, such as the development of outdoor spaces within the treatment center of the University Institute for Mental Health in Quebec City, for which the company and the Quebec Philanthrope Foundation donated $25,000 to the CERVO Foundation. “It is known that immersion in a natural environment improves mood and reduces symptoms of anxiety and depression in people suffering from these disorders. Available year-round, they will allow patients to recharge their batteries,” emphasizes Steve Laberge. This green project will also make it possible to change practices in psychiatry by getting out of the traditional model “between four walls” to allow patients to relearn autonomy and responsibility and to get closer to reality and a return to life after death. hospitalization.
In partnership with Maison l’Éclaircie, Green Shield also supports young people’s awareness of eating disorders. “This house welcomes young women living with problems of bulimia and anorexia, which today affect young girls from the age of 13 or 14 years old. The retouched images conveyed by social media have something to do with it, ”raises Steve Laberge. The company’s support will make it possible to develop the new Redo my algorithm program with a postdoctoral student, to help these young people “realign their thinking in order to understand that social networks do not always reflect reality and prepare them to better understand images. to which they are exposed in relation to their vision of themselves or of the people around them”, he specifies. The awareness campaign in schools and post-secondary institutions begins in December and will continue in 2023.
Helping communities during the pandemic
This special content was produced by the Special Publications team of the To have to, pertaining to marketing. The drafting of To have to did not take part.