Protect, Befriend, Respect: Nova Scotia`s Mental Health Movement, 1908?2008

By Judith Fingard and John Rutherford

For one hundred years, the Canadian Mental Health Association and its antecedent organizations have constituted a major force in the campaign to improve the prospects of people living with mental illness. This book traces the evolution of the movement in Nova Scotia in three stages, from one that sought to protect mentally compromised people, to one that befriended those struggling with mental disabilities and spoke out against discrimination, and finally, to one that advocates for the rights of consumers and respects their need to speak on their own behalf. This journey through the social policy regarding mental health focuses on the individuals who fought stigma, institutionalization, and marginalization: activists, bureaucrats, health professionals, and consumers. Often with strong views and frequently with compassion, they attacked the problems of indifference with dedication and energy. The result is a history not only of a particular organization, but also of a society's approach forward some of its most vulnerable constituents. As a retired professor, Judith Fingard holds an adjunct appointment in the Department of History at Dalhousie University. John Rutherford is recently retired from the Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology at Dalhousie, where he now holds an adjunct professorship. Book jacket.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1552662756
• ISBN13: 9781552662755
• Release Date: April 2009
• Publisher: Fernwood Publishing
• Length: 157 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.9" x 8.9"