Every year, thousands of youngsters in Ontario experience a mental health crisis, yet the vast majority end up waiting months for psychiatric assessment and treatment because of the severe shortage of these specialists. Now a groundbreaking new program is bridging the gap between kids and care.
Nearly 20 per cent of young people under the age of 18 in the province are affected by a mental illness or disorder. Astoundingly, only one in six of these will actually receive the mental health services they require.
"Imagine being the parent of a child in serious mental crisis. And then imagine arriving at a hospital emergency department and being told that it will be months before the child can be properly assessed by a psychiatrist. That is the sad reality for many families," says Dr. Ed Brown, CEO of the Ontario Telemedicine Network (OTN).
OTN's live, two-way video conferencing technology is assisting hospitals to provide more immediate care to this vulnerable population. The program, called the Virtual Emergency Room, was launched in 2008 by Ontario Shores Centre for Mental Health Sciences, Lakeridge Health, Peterborough Regional Health Centre and Ross Memorial Hospital. The program allows young patients with an urgent mental health problem that require specialist intervention to be assessed within 72 hours. The participating psychiatrists are able to link to these youngsters using OTN's network.
Dr. Gabby Ledger is a child/adolescent psychiatrist at Ontario Shores Centre for Mental Health Sciences and is one of three physicians at the hospital currently providing care through the Virtual Emergency Room.
"Kids suffering with untreated serious mental illness are at risk. They may begin failing in school, pulling away from their peers and families, becoming socially isolated. They may end up living on the streets or in the most severe cases, they may try to take their own lives," says Dr. Ledger. "That's why the VER program is so important; it allows us to reach these kids before their mental health problems worsen."
Anne (real case, name changed to protect identity), a parent, understands first hand what can happen when access to these specialists is limited. For years, her son struggled with mental illness, purposely harming himself on many occasions. Doctors told Anne that his issues were behavioural and that he was just seeking attention. Anne's son attempted suicide at 13 years old.