A new tool for primary care providers (PCPs) highlights CMHA’s Bounce Back program and other CMHA services as a resource for lower-risk clients. The Centre for Effective Practice (CEP) has released Keeping Your Patients Safe: A Guide to Primary Care Management of Mental Health and Addictions-related Risks and Functional Impairments, an informative tool for PCPs working with adult clients with mental health and addictions needs in their practice. The tool provides information on exploring symptoms, identifying risks, discussing intervention options, and lists considerations for ongoing monitoring and follow-up with clients expressing mental health and addictions needs.
Bounce Back is an evidenced-based program designed to help adults overcome symptoms of mild to moderate depression, low mood, or stress, with or without anxiety. PCPs can refer clients to the program that may benefit from cognitive behavioural therapy to enhance their quality of life.
Keeping Your Patients Safe was developed with clinical expertise, including a consultation and open feedback call with members of the Primary Care Working Group of the Mental Health and Addictions Leadership Advisory Council. The CEP is currently developing a similar tool for youth mental health. A Needs Assessment Survey conducted in the fall of 2014 sparked the development of this tool, as PCPs indicated that clinical tools regarding adult mental health and addictions is a top need for physician and Nurse Practitioners in Ontario.
Additional resources developed by the CEP for PCPs with meeting the needs of clients with mental health issues and additions is available at the CEP website.
This resource is part of a larger initiative, Knowledge Translation in Primary Care, to support Primary Care Providers to improve service delivery and capacity of providers to better meet the needs of Ontarians. This is a partnership initiative with partnered with the Ontario College of Family Physicians (OCFP) and the Nurse Practitioners’ Association of Ontario (NPAO) and funded by the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care.