Enhancing the development and delivery of mental health supports at the community level is a priority in Alberta's Provincial Mental Health Plan. Priorities in the provincial plan are advanced by health regions through their annual plans as well as by the Alberta Mental Health Board.
Innovation funding to undertake initiatives that improve access to mental health services in the province was announced by Alberta Health and Wellness in November 2005. $75 million over three years has been allocated to thirty eight projects in health regions across Alberta. View projects listed by health region. Examples of improvements resulting from Innovation funding include:
Improvements for the Public in General…
- The creation of a mental health crisis triage and critical response team in the Aspen Health Region has resulted in a thirty percent reduction in the overall wait time for services, and people in crisis or who are admitted to local health care centres are consistently seen the next day.
- In the Aspen Health Region, strong support by local businesses, municipal organizations, and church organizations in Barrhead and Bonnyville has resulted in high profile, successful transitional employment programs where community boards provide training, transitional strategies, community supports, and social skills to clients, and monitor the program.
- Supportive housing and transitional suites, rehabilitative, and short-term services have been provided to eighty four clients of the Community Transition and Supportive Housing project through valuable partnerships formed with the community, the Canadian Mental Health Association and Schizophrenia Society in the David Thompson Health Region.
Improvements for Children and Youth …
- Parents and their children in fourteen schools in five communities have benefited from the mental health services and supports provided within schools in recognition of the fact that this is where children spend most of their time. The Mental Health Capacity Building in Schools initiative brings together individuals and organizations at the grassroots community level, who work together to help children self-protect their mental health from an early age. This province-wide initiative is led by the Alberta Mental Health Board. (This project has since been expanded to twenty-seven additional locations due to the success of the original five pilot sites.)
- In only nine months, successful collaborations and partnerships have resulted in several initiatives that expand the range of specialized mental health programming for children and adolescents, and enhance the capacity of the community mental health clinics in the Chinook Health Region.
- High needs children and their parents participating in the enhanced collaborative primary mental health care program have shown a ten percent improvement in function as a result of this mental health capacity building project in the Calgary Health Region.
- High enrolment in continuing professional development training has greatly contributed to the quality of the culturally sensitive care being received by many First Nations’ children and youth on reserves through the Enhanced Rural Outreach Mental Health Services project in the Calgary Health Region.
Improvements for Senior Citizens …
- Both seniors and their caregivers benefit from the Seniors Mental Health Outreach project in the Chinook Health Region. All seniors who are referred are contacted within seven days and informal educational sessions support caregivers.
Improvements for Aboriginal Peoples …
- A culturally relevant evaluation including a Medicine Wheel Framework (storytelling) has been incorporated into the project to build capacity for Aboriginal peoples’ mental health to help ensure the development of an integrated and culturally appropriate mental health care system in the Calgary Health Region.
Training for Mental Health Professionals …
- Expanded educational and networking opportunities for frontline physicians and mental health service providers enhance the ability to share knowledge and resources, leading to better care for children and adolescents with mental health problems. This provincial initiative, offered via videoconferencing technology, is particularly useful for professionals located in rural or remote areas. The successful partnership between the Calgary and Capital Health Regions, the University of Calgary, the Southern Alberta Child & Youth Health Network, and the Alberta Mental Health Board has made this opportunity possible.
- Education and access are key components of the primary care project to sustain and expand shared mental health care in the Chinook Health Region. The University of Massachusetts Department of Family Medicine and Community Health has selected the Chinook Regional Hospital as one of only seven distant sites in Canada and the U.S. afforded the unique opportunity to receive Behavioural Health Training for family physicians and mental health specialists.
- All Mental Health Children’s Service staff in the Palliser Health Region have received Mental Health First Aid Canada training. A mental health orientation package for all new Children’s Service staff was also developed and is being used by Primary Care Network mental health staff.