Recreation Therapist Leanne Fernandes and a patient engage in a collaborative game as part of the Happiness Programme.
Mental Health Partners (MHP) are a collective of Ontario's specialty hospital providers dedicated to mental health and substance use care in and outside of the hospital setting. Each of the Partners is at the forefront of research, education, and innovation, ensuring that we provide the highest level of care for Ontarians facing the most complex mental health and substance use challenges. Our commitment to excellence and collaboration drives us to continually improve client-centred care through groundbreaking initiatives and programs.
Recent Partner Initiatives
Our Partners are leading successful initiatives aimed at improving client-centred care, including:
Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) is leading the Ontario arm of the ASCME Trial, the largest clinical trial for methamphetamine use disorder, involving 440 participants across Canada. The trial will assess the efficacy of lisdexamfetamine and contingency management in reducing cravings and improving mental health, aiming to address the critical need for effective therapeutic options.
North Bay Regional Health Centre's Gender Diversity Clinic ensures under-serviced communities in the northeast have access to outpatient psychiatric consultation that supports the exploration of gender identity. The clinic offers specialized care to help individuals across the lifespan navigate their gender journey, including mental health support and connection to community resources.
Ontario Shores Centre for Mental Health Sciences has adopted the Happiness Programme, developed by Social-Ability, to improve the emotional well-being of geriatric patients using interactive light technology that provides engaging games and sensory experiences. The program has shown remarkable success in enhancing patients' confidence, social interactions, and overall happiness while reducing anxiety and distress.
Providence Care's Community Seniors Mental Health program, in partnership with the Reitman Centre at Sinai Health, has launched the Enhancing Care for Ontario Care Partners program to support those caring for loved ones with dementia. The program offers practical communication and coping skills and significantly improves mental health by reducing feelings of isolation, anxiety, and depression, while enhancing emotional resilience and overall well-being.
The Royal's brain imaging-guided neuromodulation is an innovative research-based approach shaping personalized treatments for adults with treatment-resistant depression. Thanks to the combination of MRI imaging and rTMS (Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation), 65 per cent of patients experience significant improvement of symptoms, and 50 per cent reach recovery.
St. Joseph's Care Group is closing a gap in addictions services in Thunder Bay with the opening of Safe Sobering beds in March. Safe Sobering provides a new voluntary care option for people aged 16 or over who are under the influence of alcohol or other substances, but do not require the level of care provided in the emergency department or withdrawal management.
St. Joseph's Health Care London's Southwest Centre for Forensic Mental Health Care uses virtual reality (VR) to provide patients with immersive nature experiences, promoting positive mental health outcomes and eco-spirituality, even if they cannot leave the facility. The team is studying how VR immersion impacts patients' recovery journeys, potentially offering benefits to others in various care settings.
St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton is expanding an innovative peer support program designed to improve the hospital experience for patients who use drugs. Peer support workers will help patients navigate their experience in the emergency department and elsewhere in the hospital, provide them with harm reduction and safe opioid use counselling and connect them to community supports they can use beyond their stay.
Waypoint Centre for Mental Health Care offers vocational services to forensic patients to complement other treatments. These services include: woodworking, horticulture, desktop publishing, printing and binding as well as hairstyling.
Driving Collective Impact
MHP's collective efforts remain focused on improving outcomes, reducing stigma, and ensuring that every Ontarian has access to equitable, compassionate, high-quality care. Among some of our recent initiatives are:
Queen's Park Day
Attendees at Queen's Park Day 2024
On November 26, 2024, MHP and the Forensic Directors Group of Ontario hosted an Awareness Day at Queen's Park to discuss Ontario's forensic mental health care system. The event engaged over 20 cabinet ministers, MPPs, and public service members to address stigma and misunderstandings surrounding forensic mental health care and highlight the unique needs of this underserved patient population.
Alternate Level of Care (ALC) Policy Brief
MHP recently published a policy brief in collaboration with the Ontario Hospital Association to address the challenges faced by patients in mental health hospital beds designated as ALC. The brief includes recommendations to reduce ALC stays and health care resource strain.
Suicide Reduction Working Group
MHP's suicide reduction working group has launched a Root Cause Analysis across the nine Partner organizations. The Quality Improvement initiative is supported through the guidance of a Persons with Lived Experience Co-Leadership Group, and aims to standardize processes, improve client care, and facilitate cross-hospital research by analyzing inpatient suicides and near misses.
Conclusion
Working together – government, hospitals and community – we can improve patient care and transform the mental health system for current and future Ontarians.