The Manitoba government has announced that it will be helping more Manitobans through a new initiative to ensure individuals with serious, long-term mental health disorders can access comprehensive wraparound supports that help keep them housed.
“Meeting the needs of people living with severe, complex mental health disorders requires a range of programs and services,” said Housing, Addictions and Homelessness Minister Bernadette Smith, minister responsible for mental health. “This investment will build effective and sustainable services along that continuum of care by providing supports right in the community. We will help vulnerable Manitobans stay out of hospitals and emergency rooms by providing safety and stability in their homes.”
The new $4.3-million initiative will establish a co-ordination hub and expand community-based care, adding 22 new mental health workers to Manitoba’s mental health service system, the minister noted. The investment will enable Shared Health to establish two new interdisciplinary teams that use the Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) model to treat and support up to 300 individuals with severe mental illnesses in community settings.
“These new teams fill a major gap in the suite of community-based services in Winnipeg, supporting Manitobans who often have several co-occurring and complex mental health and addiction needs,” said Arlene MacLennan, director of health services for adult outpatient mental health and addictions, Shared Health. “There is strong evidence from other jurisdictions that this flexible, co-ordinated and streamlined approach reduces costly visits to hospitals and emergency departments, and helps individuals manage their mental health and substance use problems so they can increase stability and make improvements in their lives.”
ACT is an evidence-based service delivery model that provides comprehensive, community-based mental health and addiction services, crisis intervention, medication management, community integration, peer support and housing support services. Flexible Assertive Community Treatment (FACT) teams also use the ACT approach but can adapt the support provided, based on the individual’s needs and without some of the constraints of individual services, such as the length of time a service may be offered.
Shared Health will also pilot a new FACT/ACT Hub to support comprehensive assessments of individuals in the community and in hospital. The investment is a significant first step in building housing with support services while improving access to mental health-care wraparound supports, the minister noted.
The hub will also work to standardize ACT services across the province and provide provincial oversight, added Smith.
