New hospital teams announced for youth in Fraser Health region

B.C. is hoping two new response teams in the Fraser Health region will better support young people who are experiencing mental-health and substance-use crises.

The Ministry of Mental Health and Addictions announced Friday the addition of an emergency team and a transition team that will work to co-coordinate care youth who are in need of help.

“We all understand that the last few years have been incredibly challenging for all of us. But for young people in particular, the COVID-19 pandemic so profoundly disrupted our communities, our social interactions … this has an impact on the mental health of youth,” said Jennifer Whiteside, minister of Mental Health and Addictions.

“Nothing [is] more important for parents, nothing [is] more important for our communities than to keep young people safe and support them,” she added. “These teams also, importantly, can relieve the burden of parents who are not only trying to support their child through a crisis but also dealing with the emotional impact of having to watch watch their child, their loved experience that crisis.”

The province says the emergency response team supports youth 12 hours per day, seven days a week throughout the south Fraser Region. This team will also travel to hospitals upon request by clinical staff to provide assessments, consultations, and support.

The Fraser South Emergency Response Team currently supports patients at the Delta Hospital, Langley Memorial Hospital, Peace Arch Hospital, and Surrey Memorial Hospital. Additional teams are also expected to launch in Fraser North and Fraser East later this year.

The Surrey Memorial Hospital child and youth mental health and substance use transition team is available 10 hours per day, seven days per week, and includes nurses, health-care providers, and administrative staff. It is also supported by the Surrey Hospitals Foundation, which raised more than $800,000 toward the program, the ministry explains.

The team supports patients and their families throughout their hospital stay and after discharge with assessments, individualized care, system navigation, referral co-ordination, client advocacy, crisis planning, and medication monitoring.

The ministry says these teams can help young patients both during the hospital stay and after they leave. It hopes these teams can lead to shorter hospital stays, a reduced likelihood of relapse to the emergency department, and better supports throughout their healing journeys.

It adds the work that is done after a young person is discharged is just as crucial to effective recovery than the care they receive at the hospital is.

“One of the most important parts of to the transition team program is that we strive to meet each youth where they are at,” said Teagan Chambers, outreach counsellor with the Surrey Memorial Hospital transition team.

“If a youth is refusing to engage in counselling, then what you do is you meet them at a coffee shop, you buy doughnuts and talk about hip hop. You spend time with them, honour their stories and go at their pace. When you do this, they feel seen, heard and understood.”

According to a release from the ministry, in 2016, the 30-day re-admission rate for mental illness in Canada was 12 per cent, with more than half of these re-admissions occurring within 14 days. It adds the first few weeks after discharge are a high-risk period for suicide.

“I am excited to be a part of the new emergency response team as it is an opportunity to provide support and connect children, youth and their families to mental-health services during times when they may feel at their most vulnerable, which is coming to the emergency department,” said Ryan Khungay, clinician in the Fraser Health region.

“My hope in this role is to break down the current barriers to child and youth mental-health services by supporting children and families as they navigate our complex health system in a way that is child- and family-centered, culturally safe and trauma-informed.”

The province says it has invested $236 million in new and expanded substance-use care for youth and young adults through the 2023 budget.

-With files from Charlie Carey