RCMP see big increase in mental health calls in 2017 and a new program spearheaded by a local doctor aims to help

 

 

During the June 11 regular council meeting, Whitecourt RCMP presented the 2017 statistics regarding call volume, the types of calls they attend, and which areas require the most workload from officers. Though officers responded to more mischief calls last year, it was the Mental Health Act calls that required the highest workload and caused the most strain on the department.

Staff Sgt. Comaniuk answered questions from council concerning the high number of calls pertaining to mental health issues. “We do have some folks in the community who we are dealing with on a fairly regular basis, but I would have to say that because there is so much more awareness for mental health now that more people are reaching out to protective services for help.”

One of the biggest drains on the department comes when an officer brings a patient to the emergency department. Legally, the officer must stay until the patient is seen by a doctor. Given wait times, it is understandable how a mental health case would take longer to deal with than a mischief case.

Though he said he doesn’t anticipate things getting better in terms of how many calls they receive for mental health, he does foresee things getting better for how the cases are dealt with thanks to a new program spearheaded by Dr. Joseph Ojedokun at Life Medical Clinic. The Whitecourt Regional Access Program (WRAP) brings services together and enables patients to access the help they need quicker.

“We are 100 per cent drawing down on these health professionals for help and it’s really taking the heavy lifting off us. From start to finish, we can deal with a client in some instances in as quickly as half an hour. That’s dealing with the crisis and making sure he or she receives the right support and our officers aren’t tied up for long periods of time,” explained Staff Sgt. Comaniuk. “I would like to see it continue and if we can bring in more stakeholders and continue to refine the program then it will put us light years away from other communities.”

Dr. Ojedokun created WRAP to help those who suffer with mental health, addictions, and homelessness. The purpose of the program is to help connect patients to the services they need regardless of whether they arrive at the hospital or walk into a clinic. Every access becomes an entry point to receive help. The group meets monthly and is made up of representatives from all the major agencies within the area. These include Social Services, Wellspring Family Resource and Crisis Centre, Mental Health and Addictions, Lorne’s Blanket, Ballad Services (employment placement), and support agencies such as the RCMP, Victim Services, and Crime Prevention. The reach of the group extends beyond Whitecourt to the surrounding communities of Swan Hills, Blue Ridge, Mayerthorpe, Sangudo, and Fox Creek to ensure that help is provided over a wider area.

A couple of years ago, Dr. Ojedokun surveyed to learn more about mental health locally. One of the most striking findings was that less then 50 per cent of those surveyed knew about the mental health services that existed in town. “Less than seven per cent of the front-line staff surveyed knew what services were in town and how to access them. We have so many services here and people are working very hard, but they aren’t talking to each other. There is no collaboration. That’s how this whole thing started.” Dr. Ojedokun wanted to connect all the services together so that everyone knew what each service could provide.

As Staff Sgt. Comaniuk stated, one of the biggest draws for officers is having to wait with patients at the hospital but thanks to Dr. Ojedokun’s efforts they are now able to forgo that step for calls that take place during the day. “Anytime they have a mental health patient during the day, instead of waiting for hours at emergency they can bring the patient here to Life Medical Clinic. They have been quite happy with that. It helps because we can connect with the patient, adjust their medication, or start them on some if needed and, perhaps, send them for psychiatric assessment if they need it. We can also follow up with them which is something you can’t do at the emergency department.”

Another focus of the program is providing men with support in terms of addiction and homelessness. Life Medical Clinic and Dr. Ojedokun are working closely with the provincially owned and operated residential facility in Gunn, the McCullough Centre, which provides in-house services to men. They are also working with the facility to assist with the transition for men as they return to the community.

“Our dream is to be able to bring representatives from all the services together and make our community a medical home,” said Dr. Ojedokun. The term “medical home” is important at Life Medical Centre as it represents a patient-centered, team-based, comprehensive approach to medical care.

While researching care in the community he also looked at over 14,000 patients who had gone to the local emergency department over a span of several years. He then separated the different reasons for the visits and the one that had the most notches on the list was mental health. “Someone had to start the conversation and we don’t want to see it end there,” he said.

The group is currently applying for grants to enable hiring a facilitator to oversee the program, pull everything together, and build one-on-one relationships with the patients who need consistent attention to help them in their recovery. Since every point of contact becomes a gateway, the program is much like a switchboard operator in that it can connect patients to the services they need through one call rather than having to search for it.

“Whitecourt has undergone a lot of social economic changes and that changed a lot of people’s medical and mental health needs. The police saw it with the amount of calls they responded to. As a society, we can be ignorant to what mental health looks like. There isn’t a look,” said Life Medical Clinic Manager Kim Spence. To learn more about WRAP as a patient or as a potential stakeholder contact the clinic.