The Canadian Arab Institute (CAI) is proud to collaborate with the Mental Health Foundation, and the University of Alberta, with support from the RBC Foundation, to launch Text4Amal, a FREE supportive texting program for the Arab community in Canada.
Text4Amal is an expansion of a research-proven Albertan-based mental health intervention, Text4Hope, developed by mental health experts in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Supportive messaging uses daily prompts sent to a user’s phone to help them identify and adjust negative thoughts through the use of evidence-based Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) tools.
Thanks to a $200,000 gift from RBC and a national collaboration with Arab groups across Canada - led by the Canadian Arab Institute - Text4Amal provides this innovative service to Arab communities across Canada in their native language, reviewed by a focus group to ensure cultural sensitivity and relevance. Amal means hope in Arabic.
Text4Amal is for members of the Arab community who are navigating their mental health and looking for health coping skills as they also navigate our new normal.
“Our commitment to youth mental well-being is focused on prevention and early intervention programs that help provide young people timely access to knowledge, support, and care, when and where they need it. Our support of services such as Text4Amal is an important part of our strategy to help reduce the barriers to accessing mental well-being supports.”
- Mark Beckles, Vice President, Social Impact and Innovation, RBC
CBT works to help disrupt negative patterns of thinking, shifting thoughts to more constructive, healthy ones.
Research from Text4Hope saw overall reported rates of mental health distress drop by 22.7 per cent for anxiety, 10.4 per cent for depression and 5.7 per cent for stress at the three-month mark, even for people who initially reported moderate to severe symptoms.
The pandemic is easing across the country, but the psychological effects are anticipated to increase in the aftermath. As the Arab community copes with the shifts and changes brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic and the highest unemployment rate among all racialized populations in the country, the demand for equitable and accessible mental health care has never been greater.
Check out the video below to hear users talk about their experience using the Text4Amal program.
How to Subscribe
You can subscribe for three months of daily messages by texting “Amal'' to +1855947HOPE. Text4Amal works on any cell phone and is free of charge, excluding any applicable plan rates.
