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VICTORIA – Patients with a wide range of mental health conditions will benefit from the introduction of a new mental health training program for physicians that will provide doctors with education on the latest mental health-care supports and information on local resources, Health Services Minister George Abbott announced today.
The training module is set to launch in June 2009 and is an initiative of the General Practice Services Committee, a joint committee of the Ministry of Health Services and the BC Medical Association that works to renew primary health care in this province.
“One in five British Columbians will experience some form of mental illness in their lifetime, and we’ve found that as many as 80 per cent of these individuals will go to their family doctor for assistance,” said Abbott. “We’ve heard from GPs that they need more support in the area of mental health care and this program is designed to provide up to 800 B.C. doctors with more support in dealing with their patients’ mental health-related concerns.”
Up to 40 GPs from across the province will
participate in “train the trainer” sessions in April and May. These GPs will
then return to their own communities and beginning in June, will teach mental
health-care skills to cohorts of up to 30 physicians during half-day learning
sessions. The initial training sessions will be led by Dr. Rivian Weinerman,
the Vancouver Island Health Authority’s site chief of psychiatry for the south
Island.
"This is an excellent example of the shared care
approach between family physicians, specialist psychiatrists, mental health
clinicians in the community,” said Dr. Bill Mackie, president of the BC Medical
Association. “This partnership between the patient and the co-ordinated care
team will enhance the care that was provided previously for conditions
such as depression, anxiety, bipolar, OCD and substance abuse."
GPs participating in the module will learn approaches to help them improve services to patients and enhance their confidence and capacity to screen, diagnose and treat mental health conditions. A key component of the module is how to engage the patient in their own treatment and self-management. As part of the module, physicians will receive a toolkit that includes:
· A manual to help diagnose depression and detect any other co-existing mental health disorders;
· A self-care workbook for patients with depression;
· Patient-directed screening tools to assist in determining if a patient feels depressed or anxious; and
· The Canadian Mental Health Association’s Bounce Back program, an initiative to help people with chronic physical conditions better cope with low mood and anxiety.
Additionally, a number of psychiatrists and mental health clinicians from each region will act as advisors, sharing their expertise in mental health care, treatment techniques and knowledge of regional resources, with GPs participating in the learning modules.
“Helping GPs enhance their skills using our mental health module will reinvigorate their office practice within their time constraints and will yield enormous benefits for our patients,” said Weinerman. “As a result, physicians will be able to shift from acute reactive mental health care to planned proactive mental health care, and be able to use regional resources more effectively.”
The mental
health module is one of five learning modules offered to physicians across the
province through GPSC’s practice support program. The other learning modules relate to: advanced access; chronic disease
management; patient self-management; and group medical visits.
GPSC implemented the practice support program in
May 2007 and the program’s overarching goals are to improve physician
professional satisfaction and patient access to quality care.
This year, the Province expects to spend
more than $1.2 billion on mental health and addictions – an increase of
more than 42 per cent since 2001.
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Contact: |
Bernadette Murphy Media Relations Manager Ministry of Health Services 250 952-1887 (media line) 250 213-9590 (cell) |
Senior Manager of Communications BC Medical Association 604 638-2832 604 306-1866 (pager) |
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For more information on government services or to subscribe to the Province’s news feeds using RSS, visit the Province’s website at www.gov.bc.ca. |
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