Psychiatric Services

The Stepped Care panel presented a new model for university and college counselling centers to organize in a more accessible, empowering and efficient manner both clinic based and healthy campus activities. The model offers the lowest level of intervention intensity warranted by objective continuous outcome and process monitoring. It integrates a range of traditional and emerging online mental health programs systematically within a healthy campus lens. Panelists from Memorial University, McGill University and the University of British Columbia shared their experiences with Stepped Care transformations and outcomes.

Integrated Mental Health Panel:  Integration of mental health services has been a recent trend across post-secondary campuses.  Three institutions shared their experiences on integrating mental health services across primary care and counselling services.  Each panelist discussed their unique context for integration, the drivers for change, their implementation strategy, and assessment/evaluation issues.  Through facilitated discussion, delegates had the opportunity to engage and consult with panelists on key challenges and lessons learned.

Post-secondary students who have been hospitalized for mental health reasons are often poorly supported in their transition between hospital and the post-secondary setting. They may experience difficulty navigating and accessing community and campus services, encounter difficulty reintegrating into their academic and social environments, require intensive support from campus services and resources and are at high risk for dropping out of school, relapse and re-hospitalization. To help address the needs of students during this vulnerable period, Ryerson University, York University, and the University of Toronto partnered to develop and implement a pilot program designed to connect students to appropriate services and supports following a stay in hospital for mental health reasons.