Types of Mental Health and Addiction Services in Ontario

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Abuse Services

This service type is pertaining to the provision of counselling and treatment services and supports to persons who have experienced an abusive act or who are in an abusive situation. This service type will include family violence, child witness and transitional support.

Addictions Supportive Housing (ASH)

This service type is pertaining to the services provided by case managers and counsellors to individuals who have been accepted into Addictions Supportive Housing (ASH) programs. ASH case managers provide a full range of case management services, which also includes housing support, case coordination, community linkage, advocacy, safety planning, life skills training, financial management, relapse prevention and counselling.

Assertive Community Treatment Teams (ACTT)

This service type is pertaining to Mental Health Assertive Community Treatment Teams that are multidisciplinary teams providing assertive outreach, individualized treatment, ongoing and continuous services, linkages and include a monitoring and evaluation component.

Bed-Based Supportive Treatment – Substance Use

Supportive bed-based programs provide safe, substance–free accommodation with low to moderate intensity of services and a level of support appropriate for longer–term treatment of problematic substance use. Suitable for individuals who do not require intensive bed-based treatment, but who need a safe, supportive environment, away from their usual living situation, to deal with their substance use. Supportive bed-based services may also meet the needs of individuals who require additional stabilization and support to integrate into the community.

Support is generally provided through a combination of peer mentoring, group work, education, life–skills training and may also include individual counselling that will help the participant to integrate successfully into the community.

Bed-Based Treatment – Mental Health

Includes a structured, scheduled program of treatment and/or rehabilitation activities provided for clients with serious mental health conditions, while the client resides in–house. In addition to the scheduled program activities, clients have 24-hour access to support and the bed-based treatment milieu.

Bed-Based Treatment – Problem Gambling

Includes a structured, scheduled program of treatment and/or rehabilitation activities provided while the client resides in–house, to assist clients to develop and practice the skills to manage gambling and related problems. In addition to the scheduled program activities, clients have 24-hour access to support and the bed-based treatment milieu.

Bed-Based Treatment – Substance Use

Bed-based addiction treatment facilities provide intensive time–limited treatment in structured, substance–free, in–house environments. Individuals accessing these services are most likely to be those with more complex or chronic substance use. Bed-based treatment programs provide daily programming that supports participants to examine and work on issues related to their substance use. Treatment includes counselling/therapy, as well as psycho–social education and life–skills training. In addition to the scheduled program activities, service recipients have 24–hour on–site access to support and the bed-based treatment. Some programs may also provide medical, nursing or psychiatric support.

Bed-Based Withdrawal Management

Assistance with voluntary withdrawal from alcohol or other drugs to individuals who are under the influence of substances or in withdrawal or otherwise in crisis directly related to substances. Services may be provided with aid of drug therapy or other medical interventions. Additional support such as discharge planning and early recovery education provided.

Services are provided by staff that is not medically trained but can safely monitor symptoms. The intensity/severity of symptoms can be managed with medical consultation being provided by physician, after-hours clinic, health centre, or hospital emergency department.

Routine medical consultation and sufficient staff resources are available to consider management of the following medication situations: Medications for medical conditions; Medications for diagnosed psychiatric conditions; Pain medications for acute injuries or recent surgery; Clients on methadone; Clients being tapered from benzodiazepines or narcotics.

Case Management – Mental Health

This service type is pertaining to the services provided by case managers and counsellors to individuals with mental health concerns and their significant others. Includes the following functions: Individualized assessment, planning and supportive counselling; Service co–ordination (linking service recipients with services and supports); Assistance with activities of daily living, support services, conflict resolution and crisis avoidance; Systems and landlord advocacy and resource co–ordination; Community Treatment Order (CTO) co–ordination. This does not include services provided by dedicated housing support staff to residents in housing units provided by the organization.

Case Management – Substance Use

This service type is pertaining to the provision of services by staff with a primary designation of a case management role or funded specifically for case management (transitional case management, opioid case management). Responsibilities include the ongoing assessment of the substance use service recipient and his/her problems, ongoing adjustment of the treatment plan, linking to and coordination of required services, monitoring and support, developing and implementing the discharge plan, and advocating for the service recipient. Excludes the provision of treatment services.

Centralized/Coordination Access

This service type is pertaining to the provision of a centralized function within a geographic community (or large treatment centre) for clients to access services based on needs. Only used when there is dedicated staff that solely provides centralized access and referral services.

Central access collects information sufficient to determine linkage to services. It may also include managing waitlists for agencies that are part of referral service.

Does not include: an agency's regular intake process; decision for program admission; admission to program; provision of treatment planning and treatment; formulate/develop client goals for counselling/treatment therapy.

Child and Youth Secure Treatment Programs (CYMH)

This service type is pertaining to the provision of treatment for children and youth with a mental disorder in a highly structured, secure facility that places continuous restrictions on the liberties of the child or youth.

Clubhouses

This service type is pertaining to the provision of multi–service psychosocial rehabilitation functions to individuals with mental health concerns. Based on the psychosocial rehabilitation principles; services for clients or members are recovery focused and include the following: Provision of community support/generic case management services; Provision of a structured work day with activities that support recovery; Provision of supported education and supported employment included transitional employment; Provision of social and recreational programs; Assistance to client to secure housing.

Community Development – Mental Health

This service type is pertaining to the provision of guidance and assistance to a community in identifying its mental health issues and in developing its capacity to respond to those issues.

Community Homes for Opportunity

This service type is pertaining to the provision of long term bed-based care to individuals discharged from psychiatric hospitals and facilities for the developmentally disabled. The program provides 24–hour supervision and assistance with activities of daily living.

Community-Based Withdrawal Management

Assistance with voluntary withdrawal from alcohol or other drugs for service recipients who are under the influence of these substances or in withdrawal or otherwise in crisis directly related to these substances. Service recipients may be simultaneously accessing bed-based support services, or they may be residing in their home, the home of a significant other or in another community setting, supervised or unsupervised. Care may be provided with or without the aid of drug therapy or other medical interventions. Additional support such as discharge planning and early recovery education is provided.

Consumer-Run Businesses

This service type is pertaining to provision of consumer operated businesses that offer full/part time employment at market rate or higher. They offer a combination of job development, job placement and supported education within the self–help context. They may also offer self–employment opportunities for consumers to earn income through independent contract work. Support and accommodation are provided on site to consumer employees.

Counselling and Treatment – Mental Health

This service type is pertaining to provision of counselling, psychotherapy and other treatment services to individuals with mental health concerns in the community. Includes telepsychiatry.

Counselling and Treatment – Problem Gambling

This service type is pertaining to the provision of community counselling/treatment which includes initial and ongoing assessment and treatment planning, case management activities, brief intervention, lifestyle and personal counselling to assist the individual to develop skills to manage gambling and related problems, and/or maintain and enhance treatment goals. Sessions are individual, family and group format with the frequency and length of sessions varying depending on service recipient need and program format while the client resides in the community. Such activities as relapse prevention, family intervention, follow–up and aftercare are included. Services may be offered in a variety of settings including outreach to the service recipient's home, school, an addiction agency or other service setting. Outreach includes activities such as early intervention but not prevention, education or public relations activities.

Counselling and Treatment – Substance Use

This service type is pertaining to the provision of community counselling/treatment which includes initial and ongoing assessment and treatment planning, case management activities, brief intervention, lifestyle and personal counselling to assist the individual to develop skills to manage substance use and related problems, or maintain and enhance treatment goals. Sessions are individual, family and group format with the frequency and length of sessions varying depending on service recipient need and program format while the client resides in the community. Such activities as relapse prevention, family intervention, follow–up and aftercare are included. Services may be offered in a variety of settings including outreach to the service recipient's home, school, an addiction agency or other service setting. Outreach includes activities such as early intervention but not prevention, education or public relations activities.

Crisis Intervention

This service type is pertaining to the response to urgent medical and/or psychological needs of individuals with mental health concerns. This function does not include Mental Health Safe Beds or Crisis Beds. See the Short Term Crisis Support Beds service type.

Diversion and Court Support – Mental Health

This service type includes: Court Support: services provided in the courts to clients and their families to assist the judiciary, clients and their families with the legal process, to link clients to services, and to provide services/supports to clients; Diversion: services provided pre or post charge to link the person to community or institutional mental health services.

Diversion and Court Support – Substance Use

Early Psychosis Intervention

This service type is pertaining to the provision of specialized treatment and support services to service recipients experiencing a first episode in psychosis, their families and/or their significant others.

Family Capacity Building and Support (CYMH)

This service type is pertaining to the provision of services to enhance the family’s ability to support and adaptively respond to the mental health needs of the young person. Family capacity building and support services may include access to peer support, effective capacity building training for families, assistance in navigating pathways to care, and training to assist families in learning about the mental health problems of the child or youth. Supports may also include respite services: temporary care for children and youth with mental health problems to provide short-term relief for families and caregivers.

Family Support – Mental Health

This service type is pertaining to family groups participating in planning and evaluation of care delivery as well as provision of services such as self–help, peer support, education, advocacy, etc.

Family Support – Problem Gambling

This service type is pertaining to the provision of education, support, and community counselling to family members/significant others concerned with someone else’s gambling problems, where family members/significant others are seen as the primary client.

Family Support – Substance Use

This service type is pertaining to the provision of education, support, and community counselling to family members/significant others concerned with someone else’s substance use problems, where family members/significant others are seen as the primary client.

Harm Reduction

This service type is pertaining to the provision of services and supplies to reduce the health and social harms associated with addiction and substance use, without necessarily requiring people who use substances from abstaining or stopping. Examples of harm reduction services include needle exchange programs, Safer Opioid Supply programs, and Consumption and Treatment Services.

Home Care – Mental Health

This service type is pertaining to clinical services provided, in service recipients' residences, to meet the support needs of mental health service recipients and their 'significant other(s)'.

Indigenous Youth Life Promotion (CYMH)

This service type is pertaining to the provision of mental health and well-being services to Indigenous children and/or youth to address the high rates of suicide among Indigenous Youth by building resiliency. Services focus on holistic/land-based programming and prevention supports.

Information and Referral Service

This service type is pertaining to the activity of provincial or regional Information and Referral services that take place over the telephone or when the individual enquires in person and no demographic data is recorded. This does not include clients who are assessed and referred or admitted clients who may be referred to other community services in the course of their service plan.

Inpatient

This service type is used by hospitals for reporting mental health and/or addiction inpatient information.

Intensive/Day Treatment - Mental Health

This service type is pertaining to the dedicated units or programs where treatment, counselling, rehabilitative/social and recreational services are provided typically several days per week for individuals with mental health concerns, who attend for three to twelve hours on average per day.

Intensive/Day Treatment – Problem Gambling

This service type includes a structured, scheduled program of treatment activities typically provided five days or evenings per week (e.g., 3–4 hours per day) while the service recipient resides at home or in another setting, including bed-based supportive treatment services, to assist the individual to develop skills to manage problem gambling and related problems.

Intensive/Day Treatment – Substance Use

Medical Inpatient Withdrawal Management

This service type is pertaining to medically-assisted withdrawal; Medical consultation and staff are available on a constant basis to monitor and manage client withdrawal symptoms.

Medication Assisted Addiction Treatment

This service type is pertaining to programs that provide approved medication (e.g. methadone, buprenorphine, naltrexone, Antabuse) to support the efforts of individuals with a substance use disorder to abstain from or reduce their substance use. The objective of medication assisted treatment is to gradually reduce the amount of the substitute drug that is required in order to reduce and, if possible, eventually eliminate dependency altogether. This service type does not include counselling.

Outpatient Clinic – Mental Health

This service type is pertaining to the provision of psychiatric consultations and assessments, and offers a variety of treatment modalities which may include psychotherapy and medication management to individuals with serious mental illness. Services are provided in a community or healthcare setting. Referrals are typically from primary care practitioners or internal sources.

Peer/Self-Help – Mental Health

This service type is pertaining to provision of a range of consumer–directed and consumer–driven initiatives including self–help initiatives, peer support, drop–in centres and public and provider education about self–help.

Peer/Self-Help – Problem Gambling

Peer/Self-Help – Substance Use

Public Awareness - Mental Health

This service type is pertaining to promoting health, and educating the community, including the public, professionals, and other sectors which impact on the health of individuals and populations towards maintaining/improving health statistics related to mental health.

Public Awareness – Problem Gambling

Public Awareness – Substance Use

Rapid Access Addiction Medicine (RAAM) Clinic

This service type is pertaining to low-barrier, walk-in clinics that patients can attend to get help for a substance use disorder without an appointment or formal referral. RAAM clinics provide time-limited medical addiction care (including pharmacotherapy, brief counselling, and referrals to community services).

Short-Term Crisis Support Beds

This service type is pertaining to provision of time–limited emergency housing with high–intensity care for individuals with serious mental illness. This includes services such as assessment, monitoring, care/treatment, symptom stabilization, assistance with securing access to case management and long–term housing services.

Social Rehabilitation/Recreation

This service type is pertaining to provision and promotion of opportunities for seriously mentally ill service recipients to develop inter–personal, social, and leadership skills, in order to interact fully in communities. Due to high co–relation of social development with determinants of health, it is common to provide psychosocial rehabilitation and support to clients in the areas of a safe place to live, ways and means to contribute to community and development/maintenance of positive relationships with self/family/friends. Social rehabilitation/recreation requires any or all of the following client–directed services: assessment, counselling, planning, consultation with other service providers, service co–ordination, advocacy, monitoring and evaluation. Also, services include development of linkages with other service providers to maximize opportunities for social rehabilitation to isolated persons. Advocacy to bring about systemic change is an essential element of social rehabilitation.

Support Within Housing – Mental Health

This service type is pertaining to counselling and support services provided by dedicated housing support workers to individuals with serious mental illness that are residents of supportive housing units provided by the organization. These individuals require varying levels of support and include the following: Up to 24 hours support to residents and their significant others to ensure a stable housing environment; Assistance with activities of daily living, support services and crisis avoidance; Individualized support and planning provided to residents; Facilitate resident group support, conflict resolution and resident input to their housing environment; Matching individuals to appropriate housing.

Targeted Prevention (CYMH)

This service type is pertaining to services focused on changing views and behaviours, building skills and competencies and/or creating awareness and resiliency through the provision of information, education, and programming to defined at-risk populations. Targeted prevention programs may occur in a variety of settings including education, health and community settings, and may involve health practitioners and educators as partners. Targeted prevention activities are: therapeutic activities that intervene in, or avert the development or occurrence of a mental health problem; aimed at increasing the child, youth and/or family’s capacity to understand mental health problems, identify these problems early in the course of illness and change perspectives and enhance resiliency; and avenues to promote early identification of mental health problems, provide timely, effective early intervention, and develop skills in the target populations.

Vocational/Employment

This service type is pertaining to the provision of range of employment supports including job development/creation/employer outreach, skills development/training for job/education, skills training on the job, job search skills/job placement, employment planning/career counselling, supported education, supports to sustaining education/employment, and leadership training.

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ConnexOntario recognizes that its work, and the work of its community partners take place on traditional Indigenous territories across the province

ConnexOntario reconnaît que son travail et celui de ses partenaires communautaires se déroulent sur les territoires autochtones traditionnels de la province.