Starting in August and September, the Provincial Government in partnership with the regional health authorities will be launching new mental health teams throughout Newfoundland and Labrador.
FACT (Flexible Assertive Community Treatment) teams provide treatment for individuals 18 years of age and older who are experiencing serious mental illness. The teams offer individuals hands-on assistance with daily living activities, and provide continuous long-term support. FACT teams are often called hospitals without walls because they provide treatment such as medication administration when individuals are unwell and unable to do this themselves. FACT teams also closely monitor individuals, help with hospital admission when needed and also with discharge back to community as soon as possible. Through their long-term engagement with individuals and families and their assertive outreach approach, they help prevent unnecessary emergency room visits and hospital admissions and provide better opportunities for individuals to live well in their communities.
FACT teams will be available up to 12 hours a day, seven days a week, from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. An after-hours service will also be available in the event of emergencies.
Seven multidisciplinary teams, which include peer support will be available across the province beginning on August 3 in Deer Lake and St. Anthony. Teams in Grand Falls-Windsor and Gander will follow on August 6. St. John’s, Corner Brook, and Happy Valley-Goose Bay will have teams available in September. Work is also underway by the Department of Health and Community Services and the regional health authorities to establish another six teams by the end of 2020.
More than 200 staff will work on these teams, and have received FACT training over the last several months.
Referrals to the teams can be made by any individual seeking help, general practitioners, psychiatrists, family members or a community agency. For assistance, people can call their local community mental health and addictions office, 811 or visit www.bridgethegapp.ca.
The launch of FACT teams is an initiative of Towards Recovery: The Mental Health and Addictions Action Plan for Newfoundland and Labrador. Since the release of Towards Recovery, the Provincial Government has been removing barriers to treatment, making it easier to access supports, changing how services are delivered and working towards eliminating the stigma associated with mental health and addictions.
Quotes
“We have made significant progress in transforming the way mental health and addictions programs and services are delivered in this province. The community-based services provided by FACT teams will allow individuals with significant mental health issues to receive the supports and care they need while living closer to home”.
Honourable John Haggie
Minister of Health and Community Services
“We’ve long been aware that our mental health system contains gaps. The increasing involvement of lived experience over the last decade is helping to close the gaps with solutions that work. FACT teams, with the inclusion of standardized, trained peer support, is a demonstration of what holistic, person-directed, recovery-focused care can look like. CHANNAL is again happy to be providing a valuable resource, to support people to live the life they want and deserve, in recovery.”
Paula Corcoran
Executive Director, CHANNAL
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Learn more
Towards Recovery: The Mental Health and Addictions Action Plan for Newfoundland and Labrador
Follow us on Twitter: @GovNL and @HCS_GovNL
Media contacts
Kathy Dicks-Peyton
Health and Community Services
709-729-6986, 699-1982
kathydickspeyton@gov.nl.ca
Paula Corcoran
CHANNAL
709-725-5532
pjacobs@channal.ca
Mise sur pied de nouvelles équipes de santé mentale dans l’ensemble de Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador