Substance Use and Mental Health in Northern Ontario Construction and Mining Industries

Introduction

Over the last few years, many have experienced declining mental health and the opioid crisis has worsened in the population overall. These challenges have been identified in key economic sectors including construction and mining.

Within the healthcare system, organizations such as the NorWest Community Health Centres and Centre de santé communautaire du Témiskaming are reviewing their programs and working with health providers to ensure that the needs of those facing these challenges are met.

The starting point of this review is getting a better understanding of the size and impact of the substance use and mental health challenges in the construction and mining sectors in Northern Ontario.

This survey will take less than 10 minutes to complete and it is totally anonymous - no one who completes it will be identifiable. There is no link to your personal information and there is no way to identify you.

Please forward the survey link to anyone working in construction or mining as we would like to hear from as many individuals as possible. Thank you very much for your help!

Question Title

* 1. What industry are you working in currently?

Construction

Mining

Both construction and mining

Question Title

* 2. In what region of Northern Ontario do you work? (check all that apply)

Algoma

Cochrane

Thunder Bay

Kenora

Manitoulin

Nipissing

Parry Sound

Rainy River

Sudbury

Timiskaming

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* 3. Do you work mainly in a unionized setting?

Yes

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* 4. Where do you perform the majority of your work duties?

I work mainly from home

I work mainly from a local worksite/operation

I work mainly at a distant/camp worksite/operation

If working away from home, please specify your usual rotation length:

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* 5. Do you identify as:

Male

Female

Prefer not to answer

Other (please specify)

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* 6. What is your cultural background? (check all that apply)

African

European

South Asian

East Asian

South East Asian

First Nations

Metis

Inuit

Hispanic or Latinx

Middle Eastern

Prefer not to answer

Other (please specify)

Question Title

* 7. Do you have concerns about substance use for yourself or for others in your industry? (select all that apply)

Yes, for myself around substance use

Yes, for myself around mental health

Yes, for others in my industry around substance use

Yes, for others in my industry around mental health

If yes, what in your view could be put in place to best help you, or those around you, deal with substance use and/ or mental health issues?

Question Title

* 8. Do you think substance use has impacted your job performance negatively over the last year?

Yes

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* 9. How many days did you go to work in the last year feeling hung over or dealing with withdrawal symptoms?

0 (none)

365

Clear

i We adjusted the number you entered based on the slider’s scale.

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* 10. Have you ever attended work while under the influence or consumed drugs or alcohol while at work?

Yes

If yes, please indicate the main reason for this behavior (e.g., reduce anxiety, enhance work production, frustration with co-workers or boss, dissatisfaction with life in general, don't like the work):

Question Title

* 11. What is your best estimate of the total number of days of work that you missed because of substance use over the last 12 months?

0 (no missed days)

365

Clear

i We adjusted the number you entered based on the slider’s scale.

Question Title

* 12. What is your best estimate of the total number of days of work that you missed because of mental health issues over the last 12 months (unrelated to substance use that you already responded to in Question 11)?

0 (no missed days)

365

Clear

i We adjusted the number you entered based on the slider’s scale.

Question Title

* 13. What, if any, health conditions have you experienced in the last 12 months (check all that apply)?

Drug overdose

Depression

Anxiety

Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

Trauma

Insomnia

Chronic pain

Musculoskeletal pain

Grief and loss

Stress

Other (please specify)

None of the above

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* 14. Please estimate the total number of days spent in hospital over the last year due to substance use.

0 (no days in hospital)

365

Clear

i We adjusted the number you entered based on the slider’s scale.

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* 15. Please estimate the total number of times you visited an emergency department in the last 12 months due to substance use.

0 (no ER visits)

365

Clear

i We adjusted the number you entered based on the slider’s scale.

Question Title

* 16. Please estimate the total number of days spent in hospital over the last year due to mental health issues (unrelated to substance use that you already responded to in Question 14).

0 (no days in hospital)

365

Clear

i We adjusted the number you entered based on the slider’s scale.

Question Title

* 17. Please estimate the total number of times you visited an emergency department in the last 12 months due to mental health issues (unrelated to substance use that you already responded to in Question 15).

0 (no ER visits)

365

Clear

i We adjusted the number you entered based on the slider’s scale.

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* 18. Please estimate the total number of times you went to a detox program in the last 12 months?

0 (did not go to a detox program)

365

Clear

i We adjusted the number you entered based on the slider’s scale.

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* 19. As best as you can remember, please enter the number of times over the last year you have seen any of the following providers for substance use or mental health issues outside of hospital in a community setting (if you didn't use a given type of service please enter '0'):

Counsellor/ therapist

Family doctor (GP)

Psychiatrist

Nurse practitioner

Peer support worker

Other (please specify)

Question Title

* 20. In the past year have you found that accessing community services for substance use and/or mental health issues was a challenge?

	For substance use	For mental health
Not challenging at all	Not challenging at all For substance use	Not challenging at all For mental health
Somewhat challenging	Somewhat challenging For substance use	Somewhat challenging For mental health
Very challenging	Very challenging For substance use	Very challenging For mental health
Did not seek community services	Did not seek community services For substance use	Did not seek community services For mental health

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* 21. In the past year, if you accessed community services for substance use and/or mental health issues, what was your experience like?

	For substance use	For mental health
Highly positive	Highly positive For substance use	Highly positive For mental health
Somewhat positive	Somewhat positive For substance use	Somewhat positive For mental health
Neutral - not good, not bad	Neutral - not good, not bad For substance use	Neutral - not good, not bad For mental health
Somewhat negative	Somewhat negative For substance use	Somewhat negative For mental health
Highly negative	Highly negative For substance use	Highly negative For mental health
Did not access community services	Did not access community services For substance use	Did not access community services For mental health

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* 22. Is there anything you would like to add?

Thank you very much for your time in completing this survey. If you have any concerns for your own mental health, ConnexOntario is available to you (https://www.connexontario.ca/en-ca/).