Faces of CMHA: “Why privacy and health information matter”

Get to know Anna Tersigni Phelan, Chief Privacy, Risk, and Health Information Management at CMHA Waterloo Wellington. Follow the ‘Faces of CMHA’ series for a glimpse into the lives of the people who spend each day working to make a difference at the Canadian Mental Health Association:

As the Chief Privacy, Risk, and Health Information Management lead at CMHA WW, my experience over a 20-plus year career in managing privacy and personal health information — especially in the mental health and addictions sector — has taught me that there is a significant impact on individuals accessing these services when it comes to privacy.

As a Canadian citizen of Italian immigrants, I have always believed that privacy is a fundamental human right. My parents came to Canada to escape the aftermath of the Second World War because they believed that in Canada, they would receive the benefits of all the human rights that each and every individual deserves.

In my journey at CMHA WW, the fundamental human right to privacy and the protection of personal health information has driven my work, especially as the healthcare system has entered the digital age, where privacy has become increasingly difficult to manage.

If we put ourselves into the shoes of people receiving services from CMHA WW, we will know that healthcare information is unique to each of us, that it is sensitive and personal, and that it is needed to provide proper care and treatment. We may also realize, depending upon our individual experience, that unauthorized use and disclosure of personal health information can have devastating consequences on our lives, such as affecting housing, custody of our children, and our employment opportunities.

The protection of this information is critical.

If we put ourselves into the shoes of people receiving services from CMHA WW, we will know that healthcare information is unique to each of us, that it is sensitive and personal, and that it is needed to provide proper care and treatment.

At CMHA WW, we’ve developed a robust Community Mental Health & Addictions privacy toolkit that has served us well over the years, and in my role, I have often been asked by our community partners to share what we’ve learned in the process. I believed that we could apply this toolkit to any of the organizations that we share services with; however, I had a real learning experience recently.

Not too long ago, my colleague and I were asked to provide privacy training to a refugee health centre, and in researching the challenges that newcomers face when arriving in Canada — and applying those fundamental privacy rights to their situation — I was humbled by what I learned.

I have learned that for newcomers to Canada, if Ontario’s healthcare and community support system does not pay reasonable attention to their privacy rights, the harm can be significant — from discrimination and stigmatization to psychological and economic harm. In turn, refugees and newcomers lose trust in the system. As a healthcare and community support system, we need to do better in this regard. Everyone deserves equal access to care.

I truly believe that if we take reasonable steps to understand, adhere to, and honour our privacy laws — whether we are Canadian-born or newcomers to Canada — our fundamental privacy rights have a much better chance of being realized than any other country in the world.

We will learn that if we develop, implement, and stay true to the protection of privacy standards in not only the mental health and addictions sector, but the entire healthcare sector, then more people will reach out and trust that we will protect their information as if it were our own.