Background

“Only a fool learns from his own mistakes. The wise man learns from the mistakes of others.”
—Otto von Bismarck

It’s late 1999. Technology investors are despondent as they parse their ravaged portfolios. The phone rings. It’s my father, a respected neurosurgeon, who has been eagerly anticipating a comfortable retirement. But something has happened. He tells me that he has been wiped out. He wants to know why. After all, he asked his advisor to position him very conservatively.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is taking a devastating toll globally. As of May 2020, there have been 76 000 cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Canada, including 2446 cases and 146 deaths in British Columbia. The emergence of COVID-19 is concerning in BC, where an ongoing public health emergency was declared in April 2016 related to high rates of drug overdose deaths.

Deaths from COVID-19 have disproportionately affected seniors living in long-term care. Only 1% of Canadians reside in long-term care, but these deaths represent 80% of all COVID deaths in Canada.[1] This statistic is a result of issues that have been worsening for years; it is unfortunate that it took a pandemic to unmask the shortcomings of our long-term care facilities.

The Schizophrenia Society of Canada has developed a guide for both the young people who have been diagnosed with schizophrenia and the health care professionals, families, and others who support them. The guide is a resource with up-to-date and accessible information about living with and beyond schizophrenia, and setting the course toward recovery, offering readers information on the types of health services and support that are available.