Bell and Brain Canada award $4M in mental health research funding
MONTRÉAL — Bell Canada is holding its 12th annual Bell Let’s Talk Day in support of mental health initiatives on Wednesday, inviting Canadians to join in the conversation by talking, texting and participating on social media to generate Bell donations to mental health programs across the country.
On Jan. 26, Bell will donate 5 cents for each text, local or long-distance call, tweet or TikTok video using the hashtag #BellLetsTalk, as well as every Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Snapchat, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube view of the Bell Let’s Talk Day video, and every use of the Bell Let’s Talk Facebook frame or Snapchat lens.
Bell’s donations on Bell Let’s Talk Day are made at no cost to participants beyond what they would normally pay their service provider for online or phone access, explains a Bell press release.
Bell Media’s TV networks and platforms have mental health-focused programming scheduled for Wednesday, including Etalk: A Bell Let’s Talk Day Special on CTV, documentaries on Canal Vie and Noovo, as well as other special programming on CTV, TSN and RDS.
In addition, Crave has brought together almost 50 titles in a new collection called Mental Health/La santé mentale. Crave has also put together a Mental Health Awareness Collection, featuring scripted and unscripted programming that explores mental health issues.
More details about all of Bell Media’s programming for Bell Let’s Talk Day are available here.
A number of special Bell Let’s Talk Day events are also taking place today and tomorrow. More details can be found at the same link above.
Mental health research funding
In addition to releasing more details about Bell Let’s Talk Day today, Bell Let’s Talk, along with Brain Canada, announced five mental health research teams have been selected to receive a total of $4.19 million in funding through the Bell Let’s Talk-Brain Canada Mental Health Research Program.
This initiative was launched in January 2021 and “supports the development of innovative solutions to provide effective, sustainable, and accessible mental health care for everyone in Canada,” reads a press release.
Brain Canada’s contribution to the program is made possible through the Canada Brain Research Fund, with financial support from Health Canada.
“On behalf of Bell Let’s Talk, I would like to congratulate these incredible multidisciplinary research teams on the work they are doing to advance mental health care in Canada,” said Mary Deacon, chair of Bell Let’s Talk, in the press release.
“Now, more than ever with the impacts of Covid-19, we need to invest in timely research that will generate long-term benefits. The Bell Let’s Talk-Brain Canada Mental Health Research Program is supporting innovative projects that will meet the rising demand for improved, more accessible and more effective mental health care.”
More information about the research projects selected for funding is available here.
Image supplied by Bell Let’s Talk.
