1. Mental health and addiction support in primary care
- Date: Friday, October 9, 2020
- Concurrent Session F
- Time: 11:00 am -11:45 am
- Style: Live Workshop
- Focus: Practical (e.g. Presentation on how to implement programs and/or practices in the team environment)
- Target Audience: Leadership, Clinical providers
Learning Objectives
At the end of the session, participants will learn how Thames Valley FHT implemented the use of the GreenSpace into primary care.
The presentation will focus on the ease of use for clients, how the use of GreenSpace allows for more therapeutic time within appointment, increase engagement between clients and providers, and the improved client outcomes.
Participants that attend the session, will learn about the benefits and barriers of implementing digital tools into mental health and addictions care.
Summary/Abstract
Thames Valley Family Health Team (TVFHT) is located in London and surrounding areas and employs approximately 23 Social Workers and 2 Psychologist to serve the needs of over 165,000 patients. In the fall of 2019, TVFHT implemented the use of GreenSpace online platform. GreenSpace is an online client portal that allows individuals to complete common questionnaires electronically prior to their next counselling session by creating a secure patient portal profile. Individual secure portals are created in conjunction with the provider. The provider has the ability to choose both the type and frequency of tools the client will respond to. In addition, its enables patients to view their own assessment, increased engaged in treatment, and follow their own results over time. For the provider, GreenSpace reduces time in session to complete assessments, and through regular measurement provides an overview of how clients respond to treatment. By having continuous measurement, providers can change the therapeutic plan if clients are not responding as expected. When Covid-19 became a barrier to in person visits, GreenSpace has allowed clinicians to continue to monitor patient scores over time while utilizing virtual visits for direct counselling. With the use of GreenSpace during Covid-19, GreenSpace has provided a secure platform to continue measurement of client progress with treatment with no concerns of privacy.
Presenters
- Alyson Cunningham, Social Worker, MSW, RSW, Thames Valley Family Health Team
- Lisa Vreugdenhil, Director, Clinical Services MSW RSW, Thames Valley Family Health Team
- Anne Bartholomew, Social Work Clinical Lead MSW RSW, Thames Valley Family Health Team
Author
- Natalie Scidmore, Quality, Program and Data Coordinator, Thames Valley Family Health Team