IMG_1519--There is more awareness now than ever before of the impact of mental health on our overall wellbeing. Yet many people still don’t get treatment when they need it. The fear of being judged, an inability to pay out-of-pocket for therapy, and not knowing where to find help can all be barriers to receiving care. Most people experiencing a health challenge, whether physical or mental, turn to their family doctor.

“There is still a stigma associated with seeing a psychiatrist which can prevent people from getting help,” says Dr. Jose Silveira, Chief and Medical Program Director of Psychiatry at St. Joseph’s Health Centre. “People are much more comfortable walking into their doctor’s office which makes them an important resource.”

While family doctors are trained to diagnose and help patients manage chronic illnesses, psychiatry focuses specifically on the understanding and treatment of mental illness. It’s an area of medicine that has changed and evolved significantly over the years as research has improved understanding of conditions and their impact. Family doctors benefit from collaboration with specialists in this field who are aware of best practices and local resources.

“We have a lot of people living with mental illness in our community and ideally we would be able to support them all, but the need is far greater than the resources we have available,” said Dr. Silveira. “We’ve focused on building capacity among our local family health teams to strengthen our collective ability to serve our community.”

As a community teaching hospital, St. Joe’s has mental health services for children, teens and adults and last year we saw more than 62,000 visits across all of our programs, but we know there are many more who are waiting to receive care. Since 2010, we’ve partnered with three local community health clinics to improve access to psychiatry services across Toronto’s west-end. Our psychiatrists visit these teams weekly to speak with staff as well as patients and their families.

“We’ve seen an increase in mental illnesses and addictions, in particular among young people experiencing depression and anxiety,” said Wendy Goodime, a Nurse Practitioner at LAMP Community Health Centre. “Our partnership with St. Joe’s gives us access to a psychiatrist who works with youth and can help us understand treatment options and the impact of different medications.”

Village Family Health Team serves over 11,000 residents in in the growing neighbourhood of Liberty Village. Since their practice opened five years ago, they’ve focused on connecting people with serious mental illness who traditionally have not had access to healthcare.

“We have a shared care model – if we see patients whose needs are beyond our capacity we can refer them to St. Joe’s and if their team has a client that doesn’t have a family doctor, we take them on,” said Diana Noel, Executive Director of the Village Family Health Team. “We’re stronger together and our patients ultimately benefit from more coordinated care.”