Current Government Approach to Ontario’s Mental Health and Addiction Treatment

Introduction

In this month’s Provincial Snapshot, we look at Ontario’s mental health and addiction strategy and the subsequent updates and recommendations. Every month we look at another province, and what their provincial government’s approach to mental health and addiction treatment is. For April, we assess Open Minds, Healthy Minds, Ontario’s Comprehensive Mental Health and Addictions Strategy released in 2011. The four guiding goals for this strategy were “improve mental health and well-being for all Ontarians; create healthy, resilient, inclusive communities; identify mental health and addictions problems early and intervene; provide timely, high quality, integrated, person-directed health and other human services.”

Following the 2011 Mental Health and Addictions Strategy, a Mental Health and Addictions Leadership Advisory Council was formed in 2014 to ensure the implementation of the Strategy. In 2015, this council released their first annual report with recommendations on how the work is going. The council outlined five priority areas for continued focus: prevention, promotion, and early intervention; youth addictions; supportive housing; system alignment and capacity; and community mental health and addictions funding reform. In 2016, the council released their second annual report which looks again at these priority areas and any improvement. This blog will focus on these priority areas and associated recommendations to give the most up to date assessment of Ontario’s progress.

2015 Recommendations for Drug Rehab, Alcohol Treatment, and other Addiction Programs

In 2015, Ontario’s mental health and addiction advisory council unanimously supported urgent action be taken on five recommendations:

1. Make it easier for young people to transition from youth to adult mental health and addictions services and supports
2. Expect the same focus on quality from Ontario’s mental health and addictions system as you do from other parts of the health care system
3. Move on key First Nation, Metis, Inuit, and urban Aboriginal mental health and addictions needs.
   – The Ontario government needs to prioritize funding for nurse practitioners to be able to prescribe Suboxone. Also, allow for Indigenous mental health programs and infrastructure to work parallel with the Ontario government programs.
4. Prioritize investments in supportive housing focused on meeting the needs of individuals with mental illness and addictions.
   – Multiple government strategies have suggested more affordable housing and it is time to deliver on these recommendations.
5. Clarify which provincial ministry should lead the development and implementation of youth addictions policy and programming.
   – There are two different ministries currently both sharing responsibility. To improve service delivery just one ministry in charge is recommended.

2016 Reflections on 2015 Recommendations

In 2016, the council revisited some of their recommendations to see what, if any, progress had been made in Ontario’s mental health and addiction services.

• Two ministries are still sharing responsibility for youth addictions but they have worked together to look for service gaps and how to improve them.
• Quality guidelines were laid out to ensure a high quality of care across community programs.
• A number of organizations and ministries are working together to evaluate priorities for Indigenous mental health. There is also work being done to enable Suboxone prescribing by nurse practitioners, a key recommendation from 2015.
• Housing remained the same with no further money allocated to supportive housing since 2014.

2016 Recommendations

Finally, a look at the three recommendations to come from the council’s 2016 report to improve Ontario’s mental health and addiction support systems. The first recommendation has been one of the council’s guiding principles since the beginning; promote, prevent, and intervene early. This is a smart recommendation, as “70% of mental health and addiction issues begin in childhood or adolescence and can contribute to physical health problems, poor educational outcomes, and involvement with the justice system.” The earlier children and youth are identified as having a mental health issue, the earlier they can be treated. Some mental health concerns can be resolved completely, while others can be healthily maintained. Early intervention like this means a happier more productive future for the child and far less likelihood of developing a substance use issue.

The second recommendation was to close critical service gaps in youth addiction, structured psychotherapy, and supportive housing. Key ways to improve the gaps in youth addiction services are to create age-appropriate withdrawal services and residential treatment services. Many of these services are only available to adults and this gap can lead to critical concerns for youth. A pilot for structured psychotherapy to trial the best methods is suggested by the council. Finally, over the next 10 years the council wants at least 30,000 units of supportive housing created for those with mental health and addictions.

The third and final recommendation is to build a foundation for system transformation so that the transformation could occur by 2021. This foundation would begin with a focus on service alignment via a core set of mental health and addictions services that would be available province-wide. In addition, actionable data compilation and measurement of a client’s journey will allow the province to react to evidence-based needs with appropriate infrastructure improvements.

Conclusion: Future Options for Drug Rehab, Alcohol Treatment and Addiction in Ontario

The advisory council is in place for one more year, and when their 2017 report is released the public will learn how well the government has done. Some minor recommendations have already been attended to, but large structural changes have been overlooked so far. Of course, budget and other associated issues with such a large project are reason for the delay. However, these structural changes will be what really gets Ontario’s mental health and addiction treatment strategy on track. If you live in Ontario and are looking for mental health and addiction help please contact our specialist here. This website has a comprehensive directory of drug rehab programs in Ontario.

 

References:

• Open Minds, Health Minds: Ontario’s Comprehensive Mental Health and Addictions Strategy 2011
• Better Mental Health Means Better Health 2015: Annual Report of Ontario’s Mental Health & Addictions Leadership Advisory Council
• Moving Forward, Better Mental Health Means Better Health 2016: Annual Report of Ontario’s Mental Health & Addictions Leadership Advisory Council
• Mental Health and Addictions Leadership Advisory Council (2014)

JMC: 2018.04.26

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