On June 13, the GNWT announced a 79 per cent decrease in average wait times for mental wellness counselling between 2020 and 2022 with over 47,500 counselling sessions held in that timeframe.
According to a news release earlier this week, 27 per cent of users accessed their services from same-day or drop-in sessions, and 72 per cent of users that surveyed reported that they were satisfied with the wait times for counselling.
The median time from a client reaching out for help to receiving help went from 19 days to just four days, said Carly Straker, manager of mental health and addictions, quality and integration with the Department of Health and Social Services.
Straker, along with Danielle Impey, manager of Stepped Care 2.0 with the Mental Health Commission of Canada, worked together along with their respective organizations to improve the speed in which mental health related care is given, which includes addiction recovers support, and doing so in a family centric and culturally safe way.
Straker explained that the old method of care would sometimes have wait times for more than a year because they offered only one avenue to provide help and therefore had bottlenecking issues.
The way it used to work is that if someone wanted support they would have to call a community counseling program office or visit in person to book an appointment, then they would require an intake appointment and be assessed, then be put on a wait list all before receiving any support, Straker added.
Impey said she spoke with Peter Cornish, the founder of Stepped Care 2.0 — a model to improve systems and access to mental health services, typically by focusing on reaching people in a variety of different ways to meet individual needs — and after multiple conversations they created a partnership. In March 2020, the GNWT implemented the program.
Straker said that some of the ways people can now be helped are from drop-in appointments everywhere in the NWT, online support which includes talking to a professional which can be reached immediately based on the need, on-the-land programs, ongoing counselling, free mental health initiatives for residents, more public information, peer support, and so on.
“When people come for help, the first thing they get is help,” she said.
She added that a precise estimate on how long you would have to wait if you did a drop in wasn’t available — it depends on the day and the time you come in, but that an individual wouldn’t have to wait all day to be seen.
Impey and Straker both explained that the speed in which the services are provided is important because mental health issues can get worse if not addressed and the needs of an individual change over time. If you have to wait a long time for care, the problem an individual may have sought help for may have changed dramatically by time they’re actually seen by a professional.
They added that people would sometimes have a completely different issue addressed by time they’re seen.
In the GNWT’s announcement about the reduced wait times, Julie Green, Minister of Health and Social Services, stated that “… Stepped Care 2.0 has helped increase the flexibility of culturally safe mental wellness services available to residents, reducing wait times and increasing satisfaction with their counselling experience.”