TELUS expands Health for Good to support women in need of mental health services
Expanding to address increasing rates of mental health challenges faced by women and helping remove barriers to care through free TELUS Health MyCare counselling services
Vancouver - To help combat the growing mental health crisis affecting 60 per cent of women in Canada, today TELUS announced the expansion of its Health for Good™ program to now provide free access to TELUS Health MyCarecounselling services to women in need of mental health support across Canada. TELUS Health MyCare offers convenient, direct access to counselling provided by caring, 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, TELUS will provide over 1,000 free counselling sessions per year to women in B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan and Ontario.
“The pandemic has taken a toll on mothers, family caregivers, women and gender diverse people,” said Jill Schnarr, Chief Social Innovation and Communications Officer, 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 program, 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.”
By leveraging the TELUS Health MyCare easy-to-use app, the program expansion covers the cost of providing women experiencing marginalization with improved access to mental health services and well-being support, removing the stigma and expense often encountered when accessing preventative allied health care. Private one on one sessions are delivered virtually via a smartphone app which is available for free on the Apple App store or the Google Play store.
“For more than a decade TELUS Health has been focused on revolutionizing health care delivery and improving access to care for people globally to address some of the most pressing issues,” said Juggy Sihota, Chief Growth Officer, TELUS Health. “Expanding our Health for Good program to include counselling sessions with our incredible TELUS Health MyCare 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, the expansion will add a critical service for women and mothers in need.
Partner and client quotes:
“Accessing counselling often comes with barriers such as cost, time constraints, accessibility and stigma,” said Erin Seeley, CEO, YWCA Metro Vancouver. “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.”
“The TELUS Health counselling helped me move past feeling overwhelmed to focusing on self-care and taking small actionable steps to deal with the various struggles in my life,” said Cinzia, a Dress for Success Vancouver client. “I was able to open my mind and heart to opportunities and new ways of being. The program enabled me to cross the waves of challenges and create the life I love right now."
As announced last year, Health for Good also supports low-income older adults with subsidized LivingWell Companion™ service, starting at just $5 per month. Available to TELUS’ Internet for Good for Seniors and Mobility for Good for Seniors customers, this service offers access to 24/7 emergency medical support at the push of a button, helping to provide improved peace of mind for those wishing to age with both independence and dignity.
TELUS Health for Good is part of the TELUS Connecting for Good portfolio of programs that gives individuals in need across Canada access to TELUS’ world-leading technology. Since 2014, the TELUS Health for Good program, and its mobile health clinics, operating in 23 communities across Canada, have enabled nearly 150,000 patient visits Canada-wide.
To learn more about how we are creating better health outcomes for all, visit telus.com/healthforgood.
About TELUS Health for Good
Since 2014, TELUS Health for Good has been connecting underserved individuals to the medical and mental health care they need using the power of technology. Equipped with TELUS electronic medical records technology, and fuelled by compassion, our Mobile Health Clinics provide essential primary medical care to individuals living on the streets and have supported nearly 150,000 patient visits since the program’s inception. The program also supports women experiencing marginalization with access to free TELUS Health MyCare Counselling sessions and supports low-income older adults to live more independently and enjoy peace of mind with subsidized access to TELUS LivingWell Companion™.