Trailblazing: Building a path towards equitable care for rural children and youth

Trailblazing: Building a path towards equitable care for rural children and youth with mental health and substance use concerned using a regional support team
Description:
Across Canada, access to specialized mental health care for children and youth is limited, particularly in rural communities. In British Columbia, inequitable distribution of specialized service providers and resources prevents children and youth from receiving evidence-based mental health care close to home. The Northern Health regional health authority has six adolescent psychiatry beds at a regional facility to support 32 municipalities and 55 First Nation communities. As a result, children and youth are required to leave their home community for specialized care and often experience lengthy admissions to community hospitals while awaiting transfer.
In efforts to support stabilization, diagnostic clarity, and timely assessments locally, a partnership was cultivated between Northern Health and the Compass Program (Provincial Health Services Authority). Through flexible collaboration, an innovative model of support was developed for northern BC communities.
In this session will introduce the model and present three case studies to demonstrate the teamwork, pathways to care, and collaborative approach to treating children and youth in their home communities. We will share the successes and trials of working together through different perspectives, mandates, and using PDSA cycles. The presentation will also share the success of this partnership with over 100 virtual psychiatric assessments completed and a conservative estimate of $1.5 million of cost savings from treating young people locally over this 2-year relationship.
Learning Objectives:
1. Understand current state of child and youth mental health care in rural northern BC
2. Introduce an innovative, collaborative pilot project with a shared goal of improving access to quality inpatient mental health care closer to home for children and youth
3. Review 3 case examples with a PDSA lens. Discuss the successes, lessons learned, and what may be necessary for this approach to be translated to other areas.
Speaker:
Megan Crawford, Regional Lead Child & Youth Health Service Network, Northern Health
Megan brings extensive clinical expertise from acute and community mental health and substance use settings. Beginning her career in child and youth mental health at the Maples Adolescent Treatment Centre in Burnaby, BC, Megan then relocated to Prince George where she has been privileged to provide care to children in Northern BC. Megan joined Northern Health in 2021, taking on a role with the newly developed CYMHSU Regional Support Team. In addition to supporting the development of the Regional Support Team, Megan coordinated virtual psychiatry assessments through a collaborative project with BC Children’s Hospital’s Compass program to increase specialized mental health services to children and youth in rural and remote communities. Now, as the Regional Lead of Child & Youth Health programs, Megan is passionate about continuing to enhance services and ensure equitable and accessible mental health care for all children in Northern Health.