Updates from Ottawa Public Health
Black Mental Health Week (BMHW), March 1-7th, 2023
BMHW is an opportunity to bring together the Ottawa Black Mental Health Coalition (OBMHC) members and community partners to share expertise and celebrate innovative leadership in mental health for African, Caribbean, and Black (ACB) communities. The OBMHC is a network of more than 20 Black leaders in academics and health and social services, as well as community associations who have been convening to identify system changes that will improve the mental health and well-being of Black residents in Ottawa.
This year, the theme for Black Mental Health Week is Exploring Stigma and Black Mental Health. The week will feature a series of speakers to uplift, inform and advance Black Mental Health.
On Monday, March 6th from 1:00-2:00pm, OPH will host a virtual education session on Zoom to discuss how the language we use can either hinder or help support mental health and wellness. For a detailed list of the BMHW activities, please visit the OBMHC Eventbrite page to register.
March is Francophonie Month. Celebrate with us!
All over the world, Francophones and Francophiles celebrate the French language and the Francophonie during the month of March, culminating with International Francophonie Day on March 20th. At OPH, we recognize that the Francophonie is not a uniform community but rather an amazing kaleidoscope of cultures, practices, religions, and dialects that bring a richness to our community, new opportunities, visions and ways of doing things.
We continue to encourage Francophones and Francophiles to be proud of who they are, of their heritage and of the contributions they bring to our organization and to our community.
We invite you to learn more about Francophonie Month and local resources available to you:
Les Rendez-vous de la francophonie
La Maison de la francophonie d’Ottawa
Le Réseau des services de santé en français de l’Est de l’Ontario
ACFO – Association des communautés francophones d’Ottawa
Respiratory Virus Dashboard
We will continue to post on our main COVID-19 website at OttawaPublicHealth.ca/coronavirus. Our Respiratory Virus dashboard continues to be updated every Wednesday on our main respiratory virus activity webpage: www.OttawaPublicHealth.ca/FluReport .