N.B. Unveils New Mental Health Plan

New Brunswick has seen a roughly 16 percent increase in demand for mental health and addictions services since the pandemic began.

The province has unveiled a five-year action plan aimed at addressing the demands.

Health Minister Dorothy Shephard admits the province is currently not meeting the national benchmark for these services.

Shephard recognizes how COVID-19 has impacted our mental health and wants to move this plan forward in a timely manner.

“There have been serious consequences of COVID-19 in our society with regards to families not being able to be with loved ones at the end-of-life and families who can’t get together… those needs are real.”

The Inter-Departmental Addiction and Mental Health Action Plan: Priority Areas for 2021-2025 has five goals:

• to improve population health: by reducing risk factors and providing improved access to services required to maintain health;

• to improve access to services: by providing faster first contact and reduced wait times for services;

• to intervene earlier: by providing greater access to prevention and early intervention support and services;

• to match individuals to care: by providing a more complete continuum of services and support which is easier to navigate; and;

• to reduce the impact of drug addiction, such as crime, illness, injury and death, upon communities.

Shephard said the plan will integrate a public health approach (prevention and health promotion), encourage interdepartmental action and contribute to building an easily navigated continuum of care.

The plan will focus on the following 12 key priority initiatives, including:

• the implementation of walk-in addiction and mental health services across the province;

• the addition of addiction and mental health resources to fill current gaps in staffing and prepare for increased demand from COVID-19;

• the implementation of an education, training and knowledge transfer plan;

• the creation of various forms of supportive housing for addiction and mental health clients, including the implementation of a clinical consultation model for individuals requiring out-of-home placement;

• the implementation of a guiding document for population health promotion and prevention, including a New Brunswick-specific version of the Icelandic Prevention Model;

• the implementation of the provincial treatment centre for youth;

• the implementation of outpatient withdrawal management services in partnership with primary care and a review of existing detox beds to determine needs and optimal use;

• the development of a service model for people presenting with neurodevelopmental disorders;

• the initiation of a psychiatry resource strategy with a focus on recruitment, retention, distribution and access;

• the implementation of regional inpatient youth psychiatric care where needed;

• the expansion of the RCMP Crime Reduction Unit, including resources from the Justice and Public Safety Safer Communities and Neighbourhoods Unit; and

• the implementation of overdose prevention sites.

The province says initial funding for the plan’s immediate implementation was allocated in the 2020-21 provincial budget.