MENTAL HEALTH CARE UNDERGOES A PARADIGM SHIFT AT ONTARIO SHORES
Specialty mental health hospital is committed to a recovery philosophy that fosters hope
“I was afraid to go into a psychiatric hospital but it was the best decision I ever made.” Chelsea Lall
Recovery is at the centre of everything at Ontario Shores Centre for Mental Health Sciences (Ontario Shores).
Located on the shores of Lake Ontario in Whitby, the park-like setting and waterfront trail contribute to a natural healing environment.
“There’s nothing stereotypically hospital-like about the facility,” says communications officer, Darryl Mathers. “The hospital is bright and filled with natural light. When the building was first constructed the patient care units were all designed to face the water. The emphasis is on nature and healing and creating positive spaces.”
The landscape is just one contributor to recovery. Ontario Shores, one of four specialty mental health hospitals in the province, is committed to a recovery philosophy which fosters hope for people living with serious and complex mental illness.
Chelsea Lall, a former adolescent inpatient and current student and mental health advocate, credits Ontario Shores with giving her back her life.
“It was a liberating experience,” she recalls. “I had nine hospitalizations previously until I went to Ontario Shores at age 16. I’d dropped out of school. My illness was controlling me. I was afraid to go into a psychiatric hospital but it was the best decision I ever made.”
Lall had lost two years of her education, but after treatment at Ontario Shores she worked hard to catch up and graduate with her peers.
“They gave me the tools to cope,” says Lall, who is now studying to become a social worker. “Now I want to give back to those in similar situations.”
At the other end of the classroom is Jennifer Goodine, a musical theatre and drama teacher.
Though she had previously struggled with anxiety in her youth, it was nothing like what she experienced after her son was born. She was referred to the Women’s Clinic at Ontario Shores, which treats women with perinatal mood disorders and other reproductive issues that affect a woman’s mental health.
“The depression was immediate,” she recalls. “A lot of it had to do with an inability to breastfeed. There was guilt, anxiety, I couldn’t sleep. Ontario Shores was phenomenal in helping me develop coping mechanisms. You become more in tune with yourself.”
Able to return to work again, Goodine found herself changed.
“I’m far more receptive, empathetic and aware of my students’ needs now. Treatment has given me a heightened awareness of others.”
Goodine and Lall are examples of the broad range of services provided by Ontario Shores. The hospital is also home to treatment for individuals who come into contact with the law, adolescent eating disorders, geriatric mental health programs and a Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Clinic and a Metabolic and Weight Management Clinic. Ontario Shores conducts more than 70,000 outpatient visits each year.
Recently Ontario Shores further strengthened its support of people living with mental illness when it launched its Recovery College.
Recovery College is available to inpatients and outpatients to provide an opportunity for learning and discovery. Courses provide education about mental illnesses, treatment options, wellness and ultimately discovering or rediscovering passions, hope, and meaning.
The Recovery College complements professional assessment and treatment by helping people to understand their challenges and learn how to manage them better to pursue their aspirations. It is a place where “lived experience” is blended with the expertise of mental health practitioners to help participants develop meaningful goals for recovery.
“It’s really a movement to shift the power back to the hands of our service users,” says Recovery College leader Allison Stevens. “Care is blended together, placing an emphasis on the value of lived experience and the lens of the mental health professional.”
The Recovery College is just one example of innovation at Ontario Shores, which serves a primary catchment area which includes east and northeast Toronto and the surrounding municipalities of Durham Region, York Region, Kawartha Lakes, Haliburton, Northumberland and Peterborough Counties.
The hospital serves the province with its unique Adolescent Eating Disorders Unit, which provides an interprofessional model of care with a focus on recovery and rehabilitation for youth struggling with an eating disorder.
“The Eating Disorders Unit is a very innovative program,” says Dr. Barb Mildon, vice-president and chief nursing executive at Ontario Shores. “It has saved people from having to go out of country for treatment.”
Ontario Shores is always seeking opportunities to innovate and create more opportunities for people living with mental illness.
Dr. Mildon has a long list as to how private donations could assist Ontario Shores in elevating mental health care. She would love to see future enhancements to increase access to outpatient care, more programs in involving technology and mental health, and a research chair.
“It will help us to harness the emerging science on genomics and mental health. Our DNA tells us a lot about mental health,” says Dr. Mildon. “When we talk about Ontario Shores, it’s about positive outcomes. Through donations we were able to reach more people like Chelsea and Jennifer. This is the story of Ontario Shores. This is the story of what we do.”