Mental Health Week: HSA members talk about why team-based care is essential

In celebration of Mental Health Week taking place May 7-13, HSA has launched a new video that explores why team-based interdisciplinary care is essential to providing quality patient care within the field of mental health and addictions.

“We need to see a person as a whole person,” says Kaye Robinson, a social worker at the Rapid Access Addictions Clinic at St. Paul’s Hospital. Robinson, alongside fellow HSA members, describe how the delivery of quality mental health services requires a holistic approach to health care. One in five Canadians are experiencing mental health issues in a given period and require strengthened supports focused on delivering prevention, early intervention, treatment, and recovery services.

Team-based healthcare models enable different health science professionals to work together to ensure a patient receives all necessary supports. From registered psychiatric nurses to social workers, dietitians to physiotherapists, music therapists to psychologists – quality mental health care requires the collaboration of an array of specialists.

HSA is calling on the provincial government to advance team-based care models in our public health system that value the integral role a variety of health science professionals play in the delivery of mental health and addictions services. HSA is advocating for a provincial health human resources plan to address current staffing shortages across the public health care system.

To get involved in HSA’s work to strengthen public health care, contact @email.

Watch HSA's new video, Mental Health Care - Why teams matter.