Mental health service wait times increase
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This article was published 30/10/2020 (1832 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Waits for mental health assessments and treatments jumped in the Southern Health region last year, according to the organization’s 2019–2020 annual report.
It took an average of 12.1 weeks to get a mental health assessment after being referred, the report shows. In October of 2018, the average wait was 7.1 weeks — over a month less than 2019’s average.
People waited an average 3.7 weeks for treatment after getting assessed, the latest report says. In October of 2018, the mean was 2.8 weeks.
This is the most recent data available for mental health service wait times, a Southern Health spokesperson said.
Decreased stigma around accessing mental health services has led more people to seek help, the spokesperson said in a written statement. Last year, 9,560 people were treated in the Southern Health region.
Southern Health didn’t give specifics on how it will reduce wait times; instead, it pointed to following the province’s lead.
“The Southern Health-Santé Sud Mental Health program is following the Provincial Mental Health and Addictions leads and the recommendations of the Virgo report to revise service delivery so that everyone can access services within good time,” the spokesperson wrote.
The province announced on Oct. 1 it would open a Rapid Access to Addictions Medicine clinic in Portage la Prairie. The site was projected to open before the end of October, a provincial spokesperson said near the month’s end.
RAAM clinics provide patients with assessments, counselling, prescription medication and direction to community treatment programs for help with substance use and addictions.
Long wait times and a lack of resources in the mental health sector is not unique to Southern Health, or even Manitoba — it’s a Canada-wide problem, said Mariette Chartier, a professor at the University of Manitoba who has researched mental illness among Manitobans.
“I think it’s probably because a heart attack is something that’s so clear that you need to do something about it, or a broken arm, you can see it,” she said. “People with a mental illness, it often doesn’t show except to the person.”
A 2018 report Chartier worked on found roughly 28 per cent of adults in Manitoba had a diagnosed mental illness.
“We know that it’s an important problem, and it’s definitely something we should pay attention to and provide more resources (for), and also a better way of delivering services,” she said.
There are dangers that come with long wait times to receive help for mental illness, Chartier said. Symptoms might get worse, making the illness more difficult to treat. Sometimes people give up on treatment because it’s taking too long.
“We know that it’s hard sometimes to convince someone to get treatment,” Chartier said. “It’s important to act when the person is ready and willing.”
Greater access to mental health services boils down to more resources for the mental health sector, Chartier said. This includes increased funding, staff and training. Teaching family doctors and nurses the basics of mental health could also help reduce service wait times, Chartier said.
Mental illness prevention, including fostering healthy environments for children, is also crucial, Chartier said.
People experiencing a mental health crisis can call Southern Health’s crisis line at 1-888-617-7715.