Multi-dimensional centre to provide mental health help for struggling youth
A new multi-dimensional centre in the city’s northwest will help youth struggling with mental health challenges.
The multimillion-dollar centre will be built in the community of Hounsfield Heights, with construction planned to begin in 2019 and expected to last for two years.
The centre will serve young people and their families with new services including walk-in, intensive treatment and a day program hospital.
Patients and families will be able to self-refer to therapy, psychiatry and other services, while the intensive treatment service will be designed to help youth manage acute, escalating symptoms to prevent or reduce hospitalization.
The pediatric day-program hospital will be a Calgary first and aims to reduce the length of stay in hospital and ensure a smooth transition back to home, school and community.
It will enable patients to gradually shift from round-the-clock care to eight to 10 hours of daily intensive therapy. After receiving the support from the day hospital, patients will be able to go home at night.
“This new child and adolescent mental health centre will help provide this life-changing support and care to the youngest members of our community,” said Brenda Hemmelgarn, vice-chair of the board of Alberta Health Services.
Hemmelgarn added 70 per cent of mental health issues begin in childhood and one in five Canadians will experience a “mental health concern.”
“The demand for child and adolescent mental health services is at times greater than the current health system can accommodate, particularly for families in crisis,” said Dr. Sid Viner, zone medical director of the Calgary zone.
“Currently for a child or adolescent and their family experiencing mental health crisis, the only option for treatment may be a hospital emergency department.”
By having the centre built in the community, the aim is to ensure easier access to a wide variety of services.
“The team at the walk-in clinic will be specially trained, recognizing that the first contact with young people experiencing mental health concerns can set the tone for subsequent care,” said Viner.
“We know that early intervention is key, and if we can get our youth the care they need from the start, the hope is we can help set them up for greater success in the future.”
For 19-year-old Julia Caddy, the new centre is an important step forward in providing care.
When she was in Grade 8, Caddy was diagnosed with anxiety and depression, and in January of Grade 9, she was hospitalized because she was suicidal and developed an eating disorder.
“I didn’t think I was sick enough to receive help. There’s so much stigma around mental health and the way it’s portrayed in media is so sensational, that since I didn’t look like those people on TV or in those ads, I didn’t think I deserved the help I needed,” said Caddy.
“Since it was my mind that was broken, I found myself faced not with chemotherapy or a cast, but with shame and denial.”
Caddy said a team of professionals at the hospital saved her life, but that sadly, there are too many other youths who don’t know what to do when they are overwhelmed by mental health issues.
“When I heard about the new centre, I was thrilled and hopeful and grateful that people want to build a centre for people just like me,” said Caddy.
“It’s a chance to remove the stigma and to provide help to kids as soon as they’re not feeling well.”
The most important aspect of the new centre for Caddy is that it will offer help to youth before they are in crisis.
“Too often these days, the help doesn’t come until somebody is in harm’s way or has made an attempt on their life,” said Caddy.
“I have found my light again and the hope is this centre will bring that light back to each and every young person who finds themselves in darkness.”