Transitional care model for mental health patients developed in Ontario saves hospitals millions
Researchers based in London, Ont. are sharing the benefits of transitional care for mental health patients as they leave hospital, and the model has garnered the attention of the World Health Organization (WHO).
“The immediate period after discharge from hospital, usually the first month, can be one of the most vulnerable times in the life of someone experiencing a mental illness. It can be when they are most at risk of committing suicide,” explains Dr. Cheryl Forchuk, assistant scientific director at Lawson Health Research Institute.
Forchuk is the editor of a new resource book called From Therapeutic Relationships to Transitional Care: A Theoretical and Practical Roadmap.
“As a person-centred, evidence-based model, transitional discharge supports a smooth adjustment from hospital to community,” says Forchuk.
The resource includes a roadmap for implementing the Transitional Discharge Model (TDM) which has been developed across Ontario and recognized by the WHO.
The model was tested in nine hospitals including London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) and St. Joseph’s Health Care London.
On average, the length of stay in hospital was reduced by almost 10 days per admission and each site saved approximately $3.3 million per year.
“The inpatient staff continue to care for discharged clients until therapeutic relationships are established with community care providers. At the same time, we have a friendship model of peer support. These are trained people with lived experience of mental illness who have made the same journey,” says Forchuk.
It’s an experience that made a difference for TDM client Lance Dingman.
“It makes a big difference when you’re able to get back to living in the community and in your own dwelling,” said Dingman, who is now a peer support worker in the program.
“As a peer support worker, I sit with people and they tell me their story. It takes me back and I know what they are going through – I was where they are. I can share my own story and tell them what I did to get better.”
Local support lines for those living in London, Ont. area:
- Supportive Listening Line - Distress Line supporting individuals 16+yo in Elgin, Middlesex, and Oxford Counties 519-601-8055
- Reach Out Crisis Line - Crisis Line supporting individuals in Elgin, Middlesex, and Oxford Counties 519-433-2023 (call or text) or toll free 1-866-933-2023
National Crisis Hotlines:
- Kids Help Phone 1-800-668-6868
- Crisis Services Canada 1-833-456-4566 or text 45645
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Cargo ship had engine maintenance in port before Baltimore bridge collapse, officials say
The cargo ship that lost power and crashed into a bridge in Baltimore underwent 'routine engine maintenance' in port beforehand, the U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday.
A Nigerian woman reviewed some tomato puree online. Now she faces jail
A Nigerian woman who wrote an online review of a can of tomato puree is facing imprisonment after its manufacturer accused her of making a “malicious allegation” that damaged its business.
Far North police 'dispatch' polar bear stalking schoolyard
Police and local hunters in an Ontario Far North First Nation community have “dispatched” a polar that was showing abnormal behaviour and treating the area as a hunting ground.
Donald Trump assails judge and his daughter after gag order in N.Y. hush-money criminal case
Donald Trump lashed out Wednesday at the New York judge who put him under a gag order that bars him from commenting publicly about witnesses, prosecutors, court staff and jurors in his upcoming hush-money criminal trial.
Families shocked after Niagara Falls hotel cancels bookings made year in advance of solar eclipse
After having the foresight to book their Niagara Falls hotel rooms more than a year in advance, several families planning to take in the solar eclipse next month were shocked to find out their reservations had been cancelled.
B.C. rescuers face 'high likelihood' of failure to reunite orphaned orca with pod
The race to reunite an orphaned orca calf that’s stuck in a shallow lagoon with a neighbouring pod has entered its fifth day, and a marine scientist says the clock is ticking.
Video shows police interrupting auto theft in progress outside Toronto home
New video footage obtained by CP24 shows the attempted theft of a vehicle in a North York driveway earlier this month that was ultimately interrupted by police.
Majority of Canadians believe in life after death: Angus Reid survey
A new survey from the Angus Reid Institute has found that a majority of Canadians believe in some form of life after death, a proportion that has held steady for decades.
MyPillow, owned by U.S. election denier Mike Lindell, formally evicted from Minnesota warehouse
A court ordered the eviction Wednesday of MyPillow from a suburban Minneapolis warehouse that it formerly used.