A new day program at Royal Jubilee Hospital is providing people with acute and severe mental-health challenges a treatment option for intensive care without being hospitalized.
The Island Health program, called Bridging Care, started in April and provides short-term support for people who might otherwise be admitted to the hospital for psychiatric care. The goal is to help people stabilize their mental health while remaining in their community.
From late April to Oct. 1, 104 people were admitted into the program and 75 have successfully exited. The average amount of time spent in the program is 31 days.
The program is filling a “critical need” in the health-care system, said Jennifer Whiteside, minister of mental health and addictions. “We know that the less time people spend in hospital, the better,” she said.
There is no specific diagnosis criteria for the program, but participants must be safe to be in the community without supervision and willing to attend the day program, which runs six hours a day, Monday to Friday.
Clients must be referred by a health-care professional. Most referrals in the first six months of the program’s operation have come from emergency psychiatric services and inpatient hospital services, said Jen Sandberg, an occupational therapist and team lead for Bridging Care.
People arrive experiencing a personal crisis and leave feeling “more empowered, more hopeful and with skills to cope more effectively,” Sandberg said.
Participants attend daily group discussions and practise coping skills. They take part in treatments such as cognitive behavioural therapy, life skills, yoga, art, and mindfulness. Clients receive both group and individual counselling and have access to nursing and psychiatry professionals.
Zoe Newson, a peer supporter with the program, called Bridging Care “a life-changing alternative to hospitalization” that supports people facing long wait times for help with their mental health.
“Bridging care is something that I wish I could have access myself, especially during the more acute stages of my mental health,” she said.
The program has capacity for up to 24 people at a time and has been able to connect with clients with 48 hours of referrals, Sandberg said.
Bridging Care costs $1.4 million annually to run.
