Abstract
Dr. Roger Bland, long-time deputy editor of the Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, passed away on July 31, 2018. It must be said that his contributions to this journal represent only a small part of the legacy that Dr. Bland leaves to Canadian psychiatry. These contributions are far too numerous to list in detail here. They include his tireless work as a clinical psychiatrist, researcher, educator, administrator, advocate, and leader. He was chair of the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Alberta (1990-2000) and even served as an assistant deputy minister of health with the government of Alberta. His advocacy for and with people living with mental illness led to recognition as a member of the Order of Canada in 2012.
Dr. Bland’s role with the Canadian Journal of Psychiatry was driven by his scientific expertise in psychiatric epidemiology. Dr. Bland was a foundational figure in this field. His involvement coincided with its very beginnings as a research discipline. He was a friend and colleague of Dr. Alexander Leighton, often regarded as the first psychiatric epidemiologist of the modern era. Dr. Leighton’s landmark study, the Stirling County study (conducted in Nova Scotia), used systematic sampling and formalized measurement strategies to evaluate the prevalence and social determinants of mental disorders for the first time. With the publication of the DSM-III in 1980, it became possible to apply this general methodological approach using the DSM-III diagnostic system, which was also coming into use in clinical practice at that time. This was an exciting time in psychiatry—the mid to late 1980s saw an explosion of information about the distribution and determinants of disease in populations. Dr. Bland’s work in Edmonton was an early part of this revolution and produced the first lifetime and period prevalence estimates for common disorders in Canada. Dr. Bland and his collaborators subsequently worked with an international consortium of psychiatric epidemiologists led by Dr. Myrna Weissman to produce the first broad international description of the prevalence of common mental disorders. Research conducted since this time has produced incremental advances due to refinement of the research interviews and increased sophistication in sampling and analysis methods, but all of it builds upon these early foundations.
When Dr. Bland arrived in Canada in 1966 (working initially as a general practitioner in Flin Flon, Manitoba), the Journal of the Canadian Psychiatric Association was 10 years old and under the direction of its inaugural editor, Dr. Rhodes Chalke. Dr. Bland published his first paper in the journal in 1971: “Capgras Syndrome: A Case Report.” He subsequently became involved in its editorial board and was its deputy editor for over 15 years. Dr. Bland was a source of wisdom and guidance for the journal, contributing to its long period of growth and to its current position as a top-quartile journal in psychiatry. He was one of the journal’s most prolific reviewers, helping to shape and refine literally hundreds of published papers.
As a medical undergraduate training at the University of Alberta in the 1980s, I recall the excitement surrounding Dr. Bland’s pioneering studies, which were “in the field” at that time. Many years later, as the editor-in-chief of the journal, I sought his advice on dozens of papers every year. My last request, sent only a few weeks prior to his death (I was unaware of his illness), received a typically direct response by email: “I am in hospital and will be unable to complete any reviews at the moment.” To my knowledge, it is the only time that he ever declined a request from the Canadian Journal of Psychiatry.
