Plan to increase access to specialized services in the province
New Brunswick has announced a new action plan for mental health, which will take a patient-centered, recovery-based approach.
The plan will include access to more specialized services in the province, according to the New Brunswick government.
"Moving toward patient-centered care means that the system will be restructured to be responsive to individual and community needs, rather than expecting people to adapt to what the system has to offer,” said Health Minister Madeleine Dubé, when she released the report Together into the Future: A Transformed Mental-Health-System for New Brunswick.
The plan comes from recommendations of a task force chaired by Judge Michael McKee.
It defines an individual’s recovery as the ability to participate fully in treatment, live a meaningful life as he [u1] defines it, receive services that are best for that person and achieve a better quality of life.
The plan will mean an emphasis on mental health promotion, change in service delivery, early identification of mental illness and a shift in the attitudes and values of residents. The plan will create community treatment teams throughout the province. These teams will include peer support and will ensure individual barriers including housing, employment and treatment are provided. The province also announced initiatives for access to service in areas where resources are an issue, these include: ● Guidelines for access to community mental-health-centre service will be revised to reflect the recovery model and include the role of families in treatment plans. Initial funding for the plan was included in the province’s 2011-2012 budget.
● The Department of Health will support the regional health authorities in establishing mental-health community advisory committees in all zones.
● The department will offer training and support to enhance mental-health-care capacity in primary-care settings, integrating mental-health-care into primary health care delivery and permitting proactive management of mental health stressors and illnesses.
● The department will establish clinical protocols and consultation for the use of tele-mental health videoconferencing units to support delivery of specialized service to rural areas.
● The department will provide funds for mobile crisis services throughout the province to ensure responsiveness of services closer to individuals' home communities and to avoid hospitalization.
