Mental health action items to see some progress in Windsor-Essex

Windsor-Essex is seeing some progress on the front of mental health, according to Rob Moroz, who splits time between Htel-DieuGrace Healthcare and the Windsor-Essex branch of the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health.

Last year there were roundtable discussions on mental health that led to three major action items:

• Transitional aged youth
• Community psychiatry linking to primary care
• Housing and homelessness

"The most important thing we did was consult," said Moroz, who is the integrated director of outpatient and community services atHtel-DieuGrace. He says it'sa "very involved" process that included mapping out the location of services available to people living in the community.

And then they had to get input from outside of the stakeholder population.

"We realized we have to get some input from our clients and our patients that actually use the system," said Moroz.

On Wednesday, officials gave an update on where they are with the three targets.

Psychiatry andprimary care

Moroz said they're trying something new with a model that checks in on people who are waiting for services. That way, "people know they're not forgotten even if their care is delayed."

He also added that there will be more people providing care this summer.

"We've seen increased access to psychiatric care with our general clinic and we're hoping to increase that even more this summer with the addition of two psychiatrists."

Housing and homelessness

He specifically highlighted an outreach program that houses people who are experiencing homelessness, one that has seen success. During the roundtable discussion, there was a story of a person who had found housing through the outreach program.

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"Perhaps they wouldn't have done well before they started the outreach program. It was a very heartening story to hear about."

Moroz said that program providers are poolinghousing resources to ensure people are finding safe, secured places to live.

Transitional aged youth

The third focus is on youth who are transitioning into adulthood and ensuring they are accessing whatever mental health services and supports they need.

Morozpointed to a youth hub that will be led by Htel-Dieu Grace in the future, which will use a hub model to make sure that services are connected.

You can listen to Rob Morozchat with CBCAfternoon Drive Host Chris dela Torre here: