Innovative youth mental health service model cuts costs and improves care

An innovative youth mental health service model can improve care and ease pressure on Canada's health-care system, a new study led by researchers at McGill University and the Douglas Research Centre demonstrates.

Researchers compared nearly 1,500 young people receiving care through ACCESS Open Minds in Edmonton with more than 9,000 similar youth receiving traditional mental health services. They tracked the types of care both groups used, and the associated costs, in the year before and after ACCESS Open Minds was launched.

Young people referred to ACCESS Open Minds often faced more serious mental health challenges and were more likely than members of the other group to have visited hospitals, emergency departments or live-in treatment programs before entering the program. Despite these greater needs, they relied less on those services after receiving care than the youth receiving traditional care.

The findings come as some youth mental health services are paradoxically narrowing their focus to young people with milder symptoms, the authors note.

As governments grapple with rising health-care costs, Shah says the findings offer valuable evidence on where future investments could have the greatest impact. The research team is now expanding the analysis to other ACCESS Open Minds sites, including those serving smaller communities and Indigenous populations across Canada.

Source:

McGill University

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