VCH team tackles mental health and addiction in the DTES

Every day, close to 130 people in Vancouver are helped by VCH’s Strathcona Mental Health team based in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside (DTES).

“We’re the largest mental health team in Western Canada,” says Gerry Bradley, the team’s director. “We’re pretty busy every day.”

Made up of about 30 case managers and doctors, the team helps people in the DTES who live with a mental health or addiction issues.

“It’s exciting work. You get to see the human condition in all of its various points of stress. You see kindness, you see great heroics and you get to see people overcome some incredible barriers. Over the years, it’s been a huge plus to see staff come on and grow and develop. I love seeing young people take on this work and enjoy it as much as I do.”

Denise Nelson, a clinical supervisor with the Strathcona Mental Health Team, agrees.

“I like it when I work with a case manager and they finally get it,” says Denise who has been with the team for 15 years. “I like seeing them after all the training and them starting to feel more confident about themselves when helping a client. I enjoy seeing it click…watching that progression.”

Community

Community is a big part of the DTES and important when delivering services to the people who need them. It is in this spirit that for the past 25 years, following National Mental Health Week, the Strathcona Mental Health Team holds a series of annual education sessions for community agencies in the DTES (May 25 to 29). Various topics covered during the sessions include: First Nations cultural competency, non-pharmaceutical interventions, psychosis, and Assertive Community Treatment (ACT). Groups who attend the sessions include non-profits like Lookout Society, Raincity Housing and the Portland Hotel Society, as well as welfare offices, probation offices, and faith-based organizations.

“A lot of these places don’t have an education budget, but their frontline staff work quite closely with our clients,” Gerry says. “They house them, they run drop-ins, they feed them. Over the years, we found that it’s a good way to maintain our relationship with non-profits and groups trying to achieve the same things we are.”

Always changing

Denise says that on top of helping people, she loves her job because of the people and that it is always changing.

“No day is ever the same,” she says. “I work with a lot of great people who really care – and we laugh every day, which is really important.”