The government of Quebec and the CIUSSS de la Capitale-Nationale announced the deployment of new services to improve access to mental health care in Quebec.
Thursday afternoon’s announcement was made in the presence of ministers Lionel Carmant and Jonatan Julien as well as the mayor of Quebec, Bruno Marchand.
« These measures are the brief psychiatric intervention unit, psychiatric hospitalization at home and the brief support team in the community,” it was reported. The Legault government’s recurring investment is $4M per year.
Concretely, the desired goals are to “prevent hospitalization or shorten it, to promote the retention of the person in their living environment or their rapid return, to eliminate hospital processes that are sometimes cumbersome and stigmatizing and to create a new culture of care where psychiatric expertise and specialized mental health expertise are offered outside the hospital environment,” we listed.
Quick response
The brief intervention unit (UIB) will soon be installed at the University Mental Health Institute of Quebec. “Its mission will be to offer a rapid and relevant response to the urgent psychiatric needs of adults who consult the emergency room for mental health crisis situations,” it was explained.
The aim of this “personality support” (dixit M. Carmant, Minister responsible for Social Services) is in particular to relieve congestion in hospital emergency rooms. Mayor Marchand also agreed that this announcement will give police officers other choices to better guide people with mental health problems.
