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New clinics at the Stollery Children’s Hospital will help address a growing number of children and youth presenting with mental health concerns.
Angela Bennett, senior development officer for national partnerships with the Stollery Children’s Hospital Foundation, said they saw a need for more mental health services prior to the COVID-19 pandemic and, as of more recently, the need for the services given the impact the pandemic has had on children and youth.
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“What they’re telling us at the hospital is that the demand for services in mental health and the complexity of the cases that they’re seeing is rising. As we know, this has become a major problem,” Bennett said.
“The mental health walk-in clinic at the Stollery emergency, their job is to provide highly skilled staff who specialize in mental health, specific mental health therapists, clinical nurse educators, social workers, mental health nurses and the services they provide are integrated and specialized for patients and families.”
Bennett said with the addition of the new outpatient psychiatry clinic and mental health walk-in clinic, the hospital is doing its best to equip their emergency rooms with services and staff who specialize in mental health services to provide the most up-to-date care.
According to a study by the Alberta Medical Association, nearly six in 10 parents said at least one child has suffered from deteriorating mental health due to the pandemic and one-quarter of parents said their child’s mental health has worsened.
The new clinics are now adequately triaging children who enter the emergency department with mental health concerns to the Stollery mental health walk-in clinic. A news release from the hospital said 10 per cent of children have been diverted to appropriate services, which has freed up capacity for other youth with “serious needs.”
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Since opening its doors, the walk-in clinic has seen 263 patients and the psychiatry clinic has seen more than 400 patients while 2,161 patients have received consultations over the phone.
Bennett said as the clinics continue to service children and youth with mental health needs, she hopes they become a support hub for families to go to when they are in need of services.
“What we can all hope for is that our children and our families have a place that they can go when they are in mental health distress and that they have the support and they feel equipped to be able to take the next steps to follow through with a care plan,” Bennett said.
“Our health system is tricky to navigate at the best of times so I think that when it comes to mental health it’s complex. Having someone who can help guide you or give you some direction on what to do and who to see next, I think that’s really helpful.”
The clinics were funded in part by Family of Support: Child and Youth Mental Health Initiative, in partnership with Empire Company Limited and the Sobey Foundation. Since it began in 2020, Family of Support has seen more than 38,500 assessments completed, 49 new mental health treatment spaces opened across Canada and 75,974 patients served.
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