Aworie Canada

Introduction: Aworie Canada is a social enterprise that strives to cover a portion of the cost of private mental health counselling for disadvantaged populations in Ontario who experience economic barriers and/or do not have an extended healthcare insurance plan. Currently, the Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP) does not cover the costs of psychotherapy; thus, we aim to fill the gap in mental health care by collecting funds from grants and fundraising campaigns to subsidize costs for our target clients. Our vision: We will be an innovative leader in equitable and accessible mental health counselling services for Canadians. Impact of Subsidized Mental Health Counselling Integration of psychotherapy into primary care could result in a 20% to 30% decrease in medical costs. If Ontario scaled up early interventions, mental health promotions would reduce the burden of disease and public costs. Expanding access to psychotherapy is another evidence-based solution to overcoming the barriers to mental health services. Psychotherapy can improve quality of life, and evidence shows that, in Canada, every dollar invested in psychotherapy would save two dollars to society. 32 Models implemented in England and Australia have already demonstrated the cost-effectiveness of expanding access to psychotherapy services. We strive to imitate successful models in England and Australia by seeking funding from other sources to help cover the costs of psychotherapy. Information is based on a study conducted by N. Moroz, I. Moroz, M.S. D'Angelo (2020).