Gary Shepherd, director of Mental Health & Addictions Services, recently made a presentation to the Sunrise Regional Health Authority on the progress fulfilling the recommendations of the Mental Health and Addictions Action Plan for Saskatchewan.
“Within the health region we see many opportunities to further develop and support objectives of the Mental Health Action Plan,” said Shepherd.
The health region made significant improvements in 2015 and expects to continue to explore the use of crisis and observation beds, detox beds, maternal mental health screening, increasing the focus on seniors mental health, more use of on-line therapy and Healthline for persons seeking after-hours mental health supports, and increasing supports for youth intervention and education, especially in the areas of substance use and early psychosis.
Mental Health First Aid and Addictions Community Education programs are two ways the health region is trying to educate the public to remove the stigma.
“Reducing stigma is an ongoing challenge but we are beginning to gain some ground,” said Shepherd. “People are starting to realize that mental health is simply a part of the overall health of an individual. We all have challenges that affect our physical and mental health. The health of our bodies and our minds are not exclusive, they work together.”
Mental health services can be accessed in Sunrise Health Region or by calling the provincial Healthline service, another confidential resource, which people can call for information and advice from a mental health nurse. Dial 8-1-1 to reach Healthline.
Regional directors across the province of Saskatchewan are working in collaboration on a number of initiatives. The focus has been set on reducing wait times for mental health and addiction outpatient and psychiatry services, implementing a suicide framework, knowledge exchange and cross training for clinicians, implementation of a computerized evidence based level of care tool to assess what people need for services, and reducing re-admissions and maintaining levels of long term stays greater than 60 days in inpatient mental health facilities.
Sunrise Health Region has had great success in the reduction of wait times for Mental Health and Addictions services and the psychiatry wait times are minimal. A suicide framework and protocol have been implemented in the past year. The use of Telehealth throughout the region is helping to reduce travel for clients and increases access to consultation services.
“The development of our Crisis Assessment Team and new approach to intake has been very beneficial,” said Shepherd. “Our regional representatives have been invited to Prince Edward Island to present our experience in reduction of wait times.”
Sunrise Health Region has achieved the provincial wait time target for three of four triage levels across five different mental health and addictions services. The target set by the province is that by March, 85 per cent of persons seeking mental health and addictions services be triaged and seen within appropriate timeframes. Based on best practice the timeframes are to severity of illness, i.e. very severe within 24 hours, severe within five working days, moderate within 20 working days, and mild within 30 working days. Sunrise Health Region has met the target for all triage levels with the exception of the moderate child and youth triage level which is at 82 per cent.
The health region has recruited candidates to fill vacant positions in child and youth services and expects that this return to full staffing will assist in further reduction of wait times.
There is tremendous opportunity in the future to integrate mental health and addictions services more closely with acute care, primary care and long-term care. A Crisis Assessment Team was developed and psychiatry is on call to quickly respond to emergency department requests for assistance. In consultation with emergency department physicians, triage nurses and RCMP, the Secure Youth Detox process was streamlined to assist youth needing help into the program which transfers them to the Paul Dojack Youth Centre for up to an eight-day secure detox.
The Geriatric Response Intervention Team was created as a resource to respond when long-term care staff need help to assess residents with higher needs. The team is comprised of a mental health therapist, an occupational therapist, and a pharmacist. Gentle Persuasion training is being offered to long term care staff to promote understanding of geriatric issues and to ensure a caring culture.
Sunrise Health Region’s mental health and addictions services staff have consistently been involved with HUB which is a coalition of community human service providers in Yorkton e.g. fire department, police, social services. Sunrise Health Region has taken a lead role in offering support to people identified as being at personal risk.
The Kamsack Family Resource Centre opened in October of 2015. The Centre is based on a successful program currently running in Yorkton and will offer a similar menu of services.
“The Yorkton Family Resource Centre is an extremely successful program of parenting supports and early childhood education,” says Sandy Tokaruk, vice-president of Integrated Primary Health Services. “Sunrise Health Region mental health and addictions services professionals support the resource centre with counseling and education events as requested.”
Participation on the Saulteaux Pelly Health Initiative has opened the lines of communications and has resulted in discussions and joint initiatives to improve the methadone program and to address the broader health needs of the First Nation communities in the region.
A year ago Sunrise Health Region officially took over operation of the methadone program. The methadone program in Kamsack now includes care and counseling to reduce risk of HIV and Hepatitis C and help for those who no longer will benefit from methadone treatment to safely discontinue the treatment program.
“This is a resource supported by the health region that is not specifically built into the regional funding,” said Tokaruk. “The health region saw a need for better counseling support and to help these clients to look at their broader health needs.”
Challenges and opportunities for further progress on the Mental Health Action Plan include working with the community to reduce stigma and myths about mental health and addictions, and working provincially to increase the supportive housing options for mental health clients.
