Integrated mobile crisis response services: A winning partnership between Vitalité Health Network and police services
Vitalité Health Network, Monday, December 5, 2022 – Vitalité Health Network is pleased to report improvement in the delivery of crisis response services related to addiction and mental health needs through a partnership with J Division of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and other police services that was forged in 2021. By successfully encouraging the expanded use of community services, this collaboration is reducing the number of emergency room visits and police arrests.
Integrated mobile response teams are at work in several Vitalité Health Network zones. These teams, made up of qualified professionals, support people in crisis by conducting an assessment in the field, defusing the crisis and making rapid and efficient referrals to community-based services.
On the photo, we can see the social workers and clinical leaders from the mobile crisis team; from left to right: Joanie Sivret, Caroline Bulger, Janie Gosselin, Marie-Hélène Robichaud and Manon Robichaud. The two members of the RCMP in the back are Sergeant Jonathan Simard on the left and Sergeant Jocelyn LeBouthillier on the right.
Some 1,226 joint interventions were conducted within the Vitalité Health Network regions covered by this partnership between July 2021 and July 2022. Since the integrated mobile response teams were able to handle an average of 79.5 percent of these interventions within the community, the potential number of emergency room visits and police arrests dropped by nearly 2.6 per day. This is a not inconsiderable result, given the challenges facing police services as well as hospital emergency rooms and their clients.
Above and beyond these preliminary data, the partnership is boosting collaboration between police services and Vitalité Health Network’s teams, enhancing coordination, and promoting community engagement – to the great benefit of the public – not to mention fostering more individualized and collective resolution of addiction and mental health crises.
The first comments received from the professionals involved have confirmed that they are satisfied – especially with respect to collaboration, rapid response and the sharing of complementary skills.
Vitalité Health Network is convinced that with ongoing feedback and a continuous quality improvement process supporting this partnership and the integrated mobile response services, the positive results achieved in 2021–2022 will only continue to improve in coming years. Various options are being evaluated and considered to expand and strengthen the experience to emerge from this partnership.
Various approaches, such as fine-tuning the memorandum of understanding or related administrative process, expanding delivery of the services or enhancing the management and professional development of the resources involved will be evaluated and implemented to pursue this initiative and further improve the resolution of addiction- and mental health-related crises.
Collaboration between Vitalité Health Network’s integrated mobile response teams and the RCMP and other police services has proven its worth. This collective crisis resolution approach will be maintained and expanded to benefit clients throughout our communities.
