First-of-its-kind MH&A response team launched in Vancouver

A new mental health team is now hard-at-work in Vancouver to ensure the city’s most challenging clients — those with severe addiction and/or mental illnesses — are connected quickly to the community-based services they need after release from hospital.

RRAOT stands for Rapid Response Assertive Outreach Team. It’s the first team of its kind in BC, likely Canada. RRAOT will work closely with Emergency Departments at both Vancouver General and St. Paul’s hospitals to ensure clients are fully connected to the community-based services that they require.

“We recognized that individuals with severe mental health and addiction challenges have difficulty connecting to community supports after their medical needs have been met,” said Anne McNabb, Director, MH&A, Inner City.  “This team takes a rapid, hands-on approach to ensure patients are successfully transitioning from acute care to community care.”

The team will support clients who have the most severe mental health and addictions issues, including individuals who may be involved with the court system and who are at an elevated risk for conflict and aggression.

RRAOT’s client contacts will be short-term, no longer than 28 days. By comparison, ACT (Assertive Community Treatment) provides long-term community treatment and rehabilitation support that can last several months or even years, depending on the client’s level of need.

The new team will be co-located with VCH’s two new ACT Teams at 255 E. 12^th Avenue, and comprises a multidisciplinary team in partnership with VPD – a nurse, social worker, a VPD officer, admin support, and medical support as needed from a psychiatrist, GP/Nurse Practitioner, and an addiction medicine physician.

RRAOT was formed in response to last fall’s joint call from the City of Vancouver and VPD for an emergency response to what was perceived by both bodies as a “mental health crisis” facing the city.

In November, the BC Ministry of Health drafted a series of recommendations; two of which pertained to VCH. VCH was asked to create more ACT Teams as well as to create a program that addresses treatment gaps along the continuum of care for these challenging clients.

In response to these recommendations, VCH Vancouver Community has added two new ACT teams (for a total of five) and has now officially launched RRAOT – all within the ministry’s mandated 120-day timeline.

Other actions identified in the plan include a new Acute Behavioural Stabilization Unit at St. Paul’s Hospital, a secure six-bed facility at the Burnaby Youth Custody Centre to provide stabilization, assessment and case-planning, and the creation of a new Intensive Case Management team to expand services to at risk youth. These initiatives will begin rolling out over the coming months.