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  • D1-a -An Integrated Care Team for Older Adults: Embedding Geriatric Expertise in a FHT

    D1a -An Integrated Care Team for Older Adults: Embedding Geriatric Expertise in a FHT

     

    Any questions regarding this presentation can be sent to adam.morrison@gmail.com

    1. It takes a team: collaboration inside and out

    • Release date: 
      • This webinar will be available for a limited time after the conference- don’t miss it on Wednesday October 12th during the conference!
    • Style: On-demand Webcast
    • Focus: Balance between both (e.g. Presentation of a best-practice guideline that combines research evidence, policy issues and practical steps for implementation)
    • Target Audience: Leadership, Clinical providers

    Learning Objectives

    • Learn about a pilot for an integrated care team that supports older adults living with complex and chronic health conditions in a FHT setting
    • Observe an OHT-supported model of care based in primary care that includes interprofessional participation and geriatric expertise
    • Understand the value of regional partnerships and inter-organizational relationship-building that includes specialized geriatric services as part of integrated care
    • Receive resources and a roadmap for defining and measuring integrated care for older adults.
       

    Summary/Abstract
    This presentation describes the design, findings, lessons learned, and recommendations for a shared model of care that integrates specialized geriatric expertise into a team-based primary care setting. Attendees will receive tools and resources to consider how their FHT may adopt a similar shared model of care, with preliminary outcomes based on the quadruple aim framework.    The Interdisciplinary Care Team (ICT) Pilot was developed as a primary care-based intervention to support older adults waiting to see a geriatrician. At the time of the pilot, the Geriatric Medicine Complex Care Clinic (GMCC) at St. Mary’s Hospital had a waitlist of 445 patients, with an average wait time of approximately 140 days.    The ICT Pilot aimed to support older adults on the St. Mary’s GMCC waitlist by re-triaging them with the interRAI Check Up, a self-reported tool that supports risk stratification and management of older adults living with complex and chronic conditions. The ICT team met weekly to review patient information and Check Up outputs to develop care plans, initiate referrals, and support comprehensive geriatric assessment by a geriatrician. This approach favoured person-centred support of patients by identifying personal goals, managing symptoms, and advance care planning.    The ICT Pilot Steering Committee confirmed the model of care, location (New Vision FHT), health human resources (from primary care, acute care, home and community care, community support services, community paramedicine, GeriMedRisk clinical pharmacology, and hospice) and workflow (how the diverse partners would work together as one team) for six weeks of operations in Winter 2022.
     

    Presenters

    • Dr. Sarah Gimbel, Family Physician, New Vision FHT
    • Adam Morrison, Regional Project Lead, ICT Pilot, Canadian Mental Health Association Waterloo Wellington

    Authors

    • Dr. Éizabeth Côté-Boileau, Ontario Health Team Impact Fellow, KW4 OHT

  • D3 -“No Side-Effects from This” Implementing a Medication Reconciliation Program Post-Hospital Discharge That is the Best Medicine! (Audio Only)

    D3 -“No Side-Effects from This” Implementing a Medication Reconciliation Program Post-Hospital Discharge That is the Best Medicine! (Audio Only)

     

    Podcast style webinar

    Any questions regarding this presentation can be sent to bteresa@starfht.ca

    3. Sustainable solutions to primary care problems

    • Release date: 
      • This webinar will be available for a limited time after the conference- don’t miss it on Wednesday October 12th during the conference!
    • Style: On-demand Webcast
    • Focus: Balance between both (e.g. Presentation of a best-practice guideline that combines research evidence, policy issues and practical steps for implementation)
    • Target Audience: Leadership, Clinical providers

    Learning Objectives

    • Program framework implemented to ensure accuracy of medication lists post-hospital discharge.
    • Key actions to implement to adopt a similar model within a Family Health Team.
    • Important metrics to capture to elucidate gaps and build measures to create sustained change.

    Summary/Abstract
    Building on a previous QI initiative, a project was commenced in March 2021, which would dedicate a team pharmacist to do Medication Reconciliation for patients recently discharged from the hospital. Bi-weekly EMR searches for all patients across the 3 clinics of the STAR FHT recently discharged from the hospital is performed and forwarded to the pharmacist. The pharmacist then commences a comprehensive review of all sources of information related to the patient to ensure a Best Possible Medication History (BPMH). This entails looking closely at the medication list in the patient profile, review of the admitted patient’s BPMH, reviewing the discharge summary, checking Clinical Connect, consulting with the patient’s main dispensing pharmacy and in some cases following up with the patient. Several metrics being tracked is revealing to the gaps that exist, elucidating where potential errors lie and potential areas for improvement. This information is valuable as we continue to move forward with this important program to ensure that all patients have an accurate medication list post-hospital discharge. It is not fully discernable, one year into the project, as to whether it has prevented readmissions to hospital,  we do know, that patient and provider feedback has been very positive.    Program framework and key actions to engage a complex system to ensure accuracy of the patient medication list:    A foundational piece to this framework is an EMR search tool that “finds” recently discharged patients, and generates a note with this list of patients to the team pharmacist. This search is performed x2/week. The pharmacist accesses the patient chart and reviews a number of valuable sources to ensure that there is no discrepancy of medication information that comes from the various sources (e.g. the patient upon admission, the patient profile sent from the FHT/facility, specialist notes, discharge summary etc.). In an effort to ensure an accurate medication list post-discharge the pharmacist in some cases consults with the patient’s main dispensing pharmacy and pharmacies out of the area in the case where the patient is seeing a specialist and is prescribing medication.  Clinical Connect is reviewed for patients who have had treatment/procedures outside of the area and subsequent medication has been prescribed. The team pharmacist documents a note in the patient EMR and in circumstances where  discrepancies or changes to medications have occurred the family physician is messaged.     A number of metrics are being tracked in this project, the results of which are providing valuable insight of where errors can occur, and what measures to put in place to mitigate. The consideration that there are many points in the patient’s journey from admission to discharge where there is potential for error in the patient medication list, suggests the importance for other primary care teams to embark on a similar project, challenging to engage complex systems to ensure an accurate patient medication list at all times.    
     

    Presenters

    • Teresa Barresi    Primary Clinical Team Coordinator, STAR FHT
    • Kristy Adair, Pharmacist, STAR FHT

    Authors

    • Teresa Barresi  BSc RN MHS
    • Kristy Adair BPharm     

  • D2 – Implementing Youth Advisory Councils in Primary Care Settings: The Importance of Acknowledging Youth Patient Voices

    D2 – Implementing Youth Advisory Councils in Primary Care Settings: The Importance of Acknowledging Youth Patient Voices

     

    Any questions regarding this presentation can be sent to christina.jeon@mail.utoronto.ca

    2. Health equity at the Centre

    • Release date: 
      • This webinar will be available for a limited time after the conference- don’t miss it on Wednesday October 12th during the conference!
    • Style: On-demand Webcast
    • Focus: Practical (e.g. Presentation on how to implement programs and/or practices in the team environment)
    • Target Audience: Leadership, Clinical providers

    Learning Objectives

    • Describe the steps for recruiting members into a Youth Advisory Council
    • Understand how to implement social media in creating youth-centered content
    • Understand how to maintain consistent patient relationships with youth

    Summary/Abstract
    The transition from being a child to a youth patient is complex and is often overlooked by the healthcare system. As young patients who understand the complex challenge of independently navigating our medical needs, the Youth Advisory Council at the St. Michael’s Hospital Academic Family Health Team plays a vital role in being the voice that advocates for our rapidly growing community. As such, the Youth Advisory Council has begun the process of implementing diverse initiatives to establish a distinct youth presence within its hospital network, Unity Health Toronto. In this presentation, four youth members will identify the process of recruitment into a youth advisory council, taking into consideration the unique lived experiences of each member and their reasons for joining. We will then highlight the results of a project in collaboration with the Unity Health Toronto social media team, in which four youth advisory members participated in short videos posted on Unity Health Toronto’s Instagram, Twitter and YouTube social media accounts. An article was also published on the hospital network’s main website that was shared on Facebook and Linkedin. We will discuss the importance of utilizing existing social media resources to create content that is youth-centered and the outcomes we intend to observe in the future.
     

    Presenters

    • Christina Jeon    MSc., HBSc., Youth Council Member, St. Michael’s Academic Family Health Team
    • Vanessa Anne Facinal, HBSc Student, Youth Council Committee Member, St. Michael’s Academic Family Health Team
    • Seojin Lee, HBSc Student, Youth Council Committee Member, St. Michael’s Academic Family Health Team
    • Griffin Cullen-Norris, HBA Student, Youth Council Committee Member, St. Michael’s Academic Family Health Team
       

    Authors

    • Christina Jeon, MSc., BSc., Youth Council Member, St. Michael’s Academic Family Health Team    
    • Vanessa Anne Facinal, HBSc Student, Youth Council Committee Member, St. Michael’s Academic Family Health Team    
    • Seojin Lee, HBSc Student, Youth Council Committee Member, St. Michael’s Academic Family Health Team    
    • Griffin Cullen-Norris, HBA Student, Youth Council Committee Member, St. Michael’s Academic Family Health Team    
    • Juliana Tobon, Ph.D., C.Psych., Psychologist, St. Michael’s Academic Family Health Team, Unity Health Toronto

  • D1 – Creation and Implementation of a Homebound Vaccination Program During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Multi-Disciplinary Approach

    D1 – Creation and Implementation of a Homebound Vaccination Program During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Multi-Disciplinary Approach

     

    Any Questions regarding this presentation can be sent to maria.muraca@nygh.on.ca

    1. It takes a team: collaboration inside and out

    • Release date: 
      • This webinar will be available for a limited time after the conference- don’t miss it on Wednesday October 12th during the conference!
    • Style: Workshop (session is structure for interaction and/or hands-on learning opportunities)
    • Focus: Practical (e.g. Presentation on how to implement programs and/or practices in the team environment)
    • Target Audience: Leadership, Clinical providers

    Learning Objectives

    • Describe the planning, implementation and impact of mobile vaccination strategies
    • Investigate the applicability of such mechanisms beyond the pandemic to help address the health equity gaps our community
    • Demonstrate how the collaboration between different health sectors led to the success of the program
    • Investigate the sustainability and applicability of such mechanisms beyond the pandemic to our community.
       

    Summary/Abstract

    During the COVID-19 pandemic, NYTHP identified the need to deliver vaccines to various patient populations with person-centered approach in order to reduce barriers in accessing care. One such population was our community’s homebound patients, a high-risk group who would benefit from timely access to vaccinations.     This presentation aims to provide insight into our organization’s journey of planning, developing, and implementing a vaccine strategy that addressed the challenge of equity in the delivery of health care.    An exploration into the process of implementing this program including challenges will be shared. Lessons learned will provide considerations for future vaccination related strategies, as well as insights into the scalability of increasing this program into the broader community.  

    Presenters

    • Maria Muraca, MSc, MD, CCFP, FCFP, Medical Director, North York Family Health Team
    • Rebecca Stoller    MD, CCFP, FCFP, Co-chair, Primary Care Advisory Council, NYTHP    North York Family Health Team, North York Toronto Health Partners
       

    Authors

    • Jacqueline DeSousa Casal, Logistic Coordinator Vaccine Program, NYTHP, North York General Hospital
    • Orna Hollander, Logistic Coordinator Vaccine Program, NYTHP, North York General Hospital
    • Joyce Lo, Project Manager, North York Family Health Team
    • Nureen Ladha, Clinical Manager, North York Family Health Team    
    • Neil Shah, ED/CEO, North York Family Health Team    
    • Kyla Behar, Manger, Community Vaccine Program, North York General Hospital/NYTHPINE 

  • Poster Gallery 2022

    Online Poster Gallery 2022

    Thank you to all of our poster presenters who submitted their posters to the AFHTO 2022 conference! Posters were submitted by interprofessional health teams across the province. They represent the full breadth of professions within collaborative primary care and showcase evidence-based, impactful innovations that will be useful to other teams.

    Posters listed in plain text mean that a Poster was not submitted for the online gallery

    Poster #

    Theme

    Title
    1 1. It takes a team: collaboration inside and out

    Championing Integrated Care: Primary and Community Care Response Teams
    2 1. It takes a team: collaboration inside and out The Importance of Interdisciplinary Care in the Treatment of Diabetic Foot Ulcers
     
    3 1. It takes a team: collaboration inside and out Sharing and learning from each other to improve clinic phone wait times
    4 1. It takes a team: collaboration inside and out Diabetes –  It Takes a Village
    5 1. It takes a team: collaboration inside and out

    Leveraging Primary care Ontario Practice based Learning and Research (POPLAR) Network to Improve Quality in Primary Care: the SPIDER study
     
    6 1. It takes a team: collaboration inside and out

    Building Resilience Individually and as a Team 
    7 1. It takes a team: collaboration inside and out

    Primary Care Occupational Therapy: The Value of Access for Patients
    8 1. It takes a team: collaboration inside and out Team-based Opioid Stewardship in Ontario: A Pharmacist Perspective
     
    9 1. It takes a team: collaboration inside and out How ECHOs amplify: the power of Project ECHO Rheumatology in your FHT in managing inflammatory arthritis and autoimmune diseases
    10 1. It takes a team: collaboration inside and out

    From Silos to Success: Collaboration of Primary Care Models Tackling Community Needs 
     
    11 1. It takes a team: collaboration inside and out Sustainable, ongoing collaborations for practice-based, data driven QI:  thirteen years of experience
     
    12 2. Health equity at the centre ‘Housing for Health’: Caring for and Prioritizing Vulnerable Community Members Experiencing Chronic Homelessness in Dufferin County
    13 2. Health equity at the centre Accountable Spaces: Improving Service Provider Readiness to Serve 2SLGBTQI+ Clients in the Community
    14 2. Health equity at the centre

    Serving the Underserved: Bringing Interprofessional Primary Care to High Needs Communities
    15 2. Health equity at the centre

    Promoting Smoking Reduction and Cessation with Indigenous Peoples of Reproductive Age and their Communities: A Best Practice Guideline
     
    16 2. Health equity at the centre Practical Applications for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Work in Primary Care: Ideas on where to start
     
    17 2. Health equity at the centre

    Road to Recovery: A Multi-Pronged Approach to Support COVID-19 Vaccinations and Beyond in North York
     
    18 2. Health equity at the centre Addressing equity and efficiency with patient reminders
    19 2. Primary care leading in health system transformation Reimagining HIV prevention and care in the ACB  communities through meaningful stakeholder engagement
    20 2. Health equity at the centre Achieving More Equitable Complex Concussion Management: Lessons from ECHO Concussion, a telemedicine education program
    21 2. Health equity at the centre Using neighbourhood level measures of deprivation to support clinical care
    22 2. Health equity at the centre Supporting Pregnant, Lactating, and Parenting People who Consume Cannabis in Ontario: An Interactive Workshop to Enhance Healthcare Practices
    23 2. Health equity at the centre Out of Mind but not Out of Sight: Identifying, Reaching and Addressing Health Care Needs of Vulnerable Patients during Pandemic 
     
    24 2. Health equity at the centre Clinical and Cultural Competencies for 2SLGBTQ Communities
    25 3. Sustainable solutions to primary care problems Leveraging electronic medical record data to develop patient interventions: a pilot study
    26 3. Sustainable solutions to primary care problems
         		 We Are Here for You- Virtual Baby and Me support education series
    27 3. Sustainable solutions to primary care problems Linking primary care electronic medical record data with hospital data to support Ontario Health Teams
     
    28 3. Sustainable solutions to primary care problems
         		 Telephone Follow-up Visits Offer a New Care Option for Patients with Hip & Knee Arthritis
     
    29 3. Sustainable solutions to primary care problems
         		 Improving Experience of Virtual Rehab for Patients After Knee Replacement 
    30 3. Sustainable solutions to primary care problems
         		 Eliminating Barriers in Providing Care
     
    31 3. Sustainable solutions to primary care problems
         		 Data Management and it’s use in informing programs
     
    32 3. Sustainable solutions to primary care problems
         		 Clinical Practice in a Digital Health Environment: New Best Practice Guideline
    33 3. Sustainable solutions to primary care problems
         		 Implementing a patient portal in a province-wide smoking cessation program to address systemic barriers to accessing program treatment. 
    34 3. Sustainable solutions to primary care problems
         		 Learning from adaptation: Primary care occupational, physical, and respiratory therapy practice in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic 
     
    35 3. Sustainable solutions to primary care problems Primary Care, Specialists and Patients – Building a Better Workflow; Ensuring a Better Experience
    36 3. Sustainable solutions to primary care problems
         		 Digital First for Health Strategy: Evidence2Practice Ontario Program
     
    37 3. Sustainable solutions to primary care problems Technology enabled collaborative care (TECC) for adults with diabetes: Results from a feasibility study

     
    38 3. Sustainable solutions to primary care problems Developing a Practice Guidance Tool for Prescribing Cascades in Primary Care Teams
    39 3. Sustainable solutions to primary care problems Leading Change From the Ground Up: An Approach for Sustainable Change in Primary Care 
     
    40 3. Sustainable solutions to primary care problems Exploring the impact of ECHO Ontario Integrated Mental and Physical Health on participants’ approach and attitude towards the care of complex patients
     
    41 3. Sustainable solutions to primary care problems Using “bots” to support more efficient workflows and reduce the risk of clinician burnout
    42 3. Sustainable solutions to primary care problems Evaluation of real-time collection of patient-reported experience to support continuous improvement
     
    43 3. Sustainable solutions to primary care problems POPLAR, the Primary care Ontario Practice-based Learning and Research Network
    44 3. Sustainable solutions to primary care problems Intelligent automation to improve chronic disease identification and coding in primary care
    45 4. Mental health and addictions Optimizing the role of social work in primary care across Ontario: A mixed methods study
    46 4. Mental health and addictions Empowering our Patients Receiving Mental Health and Addictions Treatment using Measurement Based Care
    47 4. Mental health and addictions Implementation and Impact of an Interprofessional Postpartum Support Group
     
    48 4. Mental health and addictions Party n Play/ Chemsex: Mental Health, Resilience and Culturally and Clinically Competencies for GBMSM  
     

     

    Poster #

    Theme

    Title
    a 2. Health equity at the centre Access Impacts to Primary Care Rehabilitation Practice During the COVID-19 Pandemic
    b 2. Health equity at the centre Amplifying the voices of Black communities: A participatory approach to designing smoking cessation programming for Black Torontonians
     
    c 3. Sustainable solutions to primary care problems Integrated primary care workforce planning in the City of Toronto: Co-development and operationalization of a fit-for-purpose planning toolkit

  • Strengthening mental healthcare delivery in primary care

    The OMA and the Primary Care Collaborative have released a joint policy paper with recommendations to strengthen mental healthcare delivery in primary care.

    The rate of new mental health and addiction diagnoses is increasing, exacerbated by the ongoing impacts of the pandemic. Approximately three-quarters of Canadians rely on their primary care provider to address their mental health needs, but there are longstanding system gaps that must be addressed to enhance the ability of primary care doctors to deliver mental health care.

    In a paper, titled Strengthening the delivery of Mental Health and Addiction Services in Primary Care, the Ontario Medical Association and the Primary Care Collaborative have identified the following policy actions that are necessary to ensure greater support for primary care providers and improve care in this crucial area:

    • Enhance primary care’s capacity to offer treatment locally by funding and establishing interprofessional care teams with expertise in treating moderate to severe depression and anxiety
    • Improve the ability of primary care providers to connect their patients who have moderate to severe depression and anxiety to local services by leveraging and expanding the navigation service, Health Connect Ontario
    • Expand access to harm reduction services, such as supervised consumption and treatment sites
    • Implement an Indigenous-led mental health and wellness strategy

    The paper was released on October 3, 2022.

    The full news release can be read here.

     

    About The Primary Care Collaborative
    The Primary Care Collaborative is an alliance of primary care organizations that joined together to collaborate on strengthening primary care as we move toward recovering from the pandemic. It is made up of the Association of Family Health Teams of Ontario, the Indigenous Primary Health Care Council, the Alliance for Healthier Communities, the Nurse Practitioner-Led Clinic Association, the Ontario College of Family Physicians, and the OMA’s Section on General and Family Practice.

  • Electronic Monitoring Policy

    Organizations with 25 or more employees as of January 1, 2022, must provide employees with an electronic monitoring policy by November 10, 2022. The Ministry of Labour has published guidelines that set out information and their interpretation of the new law.

    Maria McDonald from McDonald HR Law has shared the following with AFHTO to support teams:

    • An E-Alert with more fulsome information on the Electronic Monitoring Policy requirements
    • A sample policy for teams to use as a template.
      • This is very general and only refers to the basic type of monitoring most organizations engage in. If your team already has more specific monitoring practices, that would need to be added to your policy.

    Executives are encouraged to do the following:
    a.    Review the E-Alert
    b.    Review the guidelines
    c.    Consider and outline the types of monitoring your organization does
    d.    Use the sample policy as a template for building your own electronic monitoring policy

     

  • AFHTO reflects on National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

    AFHTO reflects on National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

    The words are National Day for Truth and Reconciliation on an orange background with feathers to their right. Below it says Before reconcilation must come truth

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Every year, on September 30, we mark the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, and Orange Shirt Day to honour and commemorate survivors and ancestors who were and continue to be impacted by the tragic and painful history of residential schools. The last residential school closed in 1996 and the effects of the system and colonization are still deeply felt in communities today.

    The Orange Shirt represents the stripping away of the freedoms, cultures, and practices experienced by Indigenous children and families and the opportunity to support and honor their healing journey. We keep the reconciliation process alive by commemorating this day.

    AFHTO continues to observe this day of learning, listening, and remembering. Before reconciliation must come truth. We encourage our members to seek understanding about the experiences of Indigenous peoples and recognize that historical and ongoing systemic wrongs have impacts that affects us all.

    Opportunities to learn, support, and show commitment to reconciliation, inclusion, and anti-racism:

    If you have not yet already, enrol in the IPHCC Foundations of Indigenous Cultural Safety (ICS) e-learning modules to learn the importance of adopting culturally safe and appropriate practices when serving Indigenous clients and patients.

    AFHTO acknowledges that we are on the traditional territory of many nations including the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishnabeg, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee and the Wendat peoples and is now home to many diverse First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples. We also acknowledge that Toronto is covered by Treaty 13 signed with the Mississaugas of the Credit, and the Williams Treaties signed with multiple Mississaugas and Chippewa bands.

  • AFHTO 2022 Conference: early bird deadline TODAY

    AFHTO 2022 Conference: early bird deadline TODAY

    Reconnect and Reimagine: moving forward together

    Register for #AFHTO2022 -early bird deadline today, Sep. 28!

    New session

    • NE/NW ED networking session added– this session will be held 8:30-9:30 am on Oct. 12 along with those already announced- BSM, Toronto Central and Southwest regions. EDs and Admin Leads can register for them as part of conference registration or update your registration using the link in your confirmation email.

    Program host and other volunteer opportunities
    One of our program hosts had to cancel so we have an opening! These volunteers help keep our sessions on track and get complimentary registration in return. See the role description here and email paula.myers@afhto.ca by this Friday, Sep.30 if you’re interested.

    We also have volunteer opportunities onsite for deeply discounted registration, such as registration desk, attendee assistance at breakfast and lunch and wayfinding. Email us for more information by this Friday, Sep. 30.

    Conference Highlights:

     

    Patients and students welcome! For general information, you can visit our conference page.  

    We look forward to seeing you at the AFHTO 2022 Conference!

    This Group Learning program has been reviewed by the College of Family Physicians of Canada and is awaiting final certification by the College’s Ontario Chapter.

    Canadian College of Health Leaders logo

    MAINTENANCE OF CERTIFICATION
    Attendance at this program entitles certified Canadian College of Health Leaders members (CHE / Fellow) to:
    – Full conference, 2.5 Category II credits
    – On-demand sessions, maximum of 2.75 Category II credits towards their maintenance of certification requirement.

  • Possible mental health and addiction funding for teams

    Dear Executive Directors/Admin Leads,

    As part of the pandemic response, in 2020/21 the Ministry rolled out an initiative that provided interprofessional teams with one-time funding to deal with mental health and addiction (MHA) care backlog in your clinics. Despite the very late roll out of funding it was great to see how so many teams were able to step up and provide much needed support for their patients and their communities.

    We are getting some intel that there may be another MHA one-time investment  again this year – this time with an October 1st to Mach 31st timeframe. The funding would be more substantive and, if approved, could be used to flexibly to support MHA work in your organization, similarly to the last one time investment.  If approved, it could be used for any or all of the following:  

    • hire staff,
    • increase the FTE of current staff,
    • purchase services from publicly funded and/or private MHA providers,
    • overhead costs, administrative and logistics support including space for groups,
    • purchasing of workbooks for patients and other supports that are needed to increase access to MHA support in primary care.

     This funding could also be pooled with other interprofessional teams in your region. This funding would not include an increase in psychiatry sessionals.

    The goal of this funding would be to address the backlog of MHA challenges in the community, but this is still in early discussions and there are no commitments being made yet. We would be interested to know if there are any challenges or barriers (aside from the general HHR shortage), to implementing this type of funding again, should it become available.  As the Ministry continues planning to deal with the increased MHA challenges in the province, we want to ensure that primary care is not forgotten in those discussions. Once we hear something definitively we will let you know.

    Sincerely,
    Your AFHTO Team