Alberta Health Services has launched a new Adolescent Crisis Response Team at Red Deer Regional Hospital in addition to other mental health enhancements. 

The team was launched earlier this month and is comprised of mental health aides who support youth experiencing mental health crisis when they visit the local emergency department. Team members will stay with the youth during their visit and provide temporary support through education, connection, coping skills and reassurance until other resources are in place to help. 

A new program called Acute at Home will allow youth to receive care in their home virtually or in-person in a clinic setting. Acute at Home consists of mental health therapists, registered psychiatric nurse, social worker, crisis response therapist, and mental health aides. The team will respond to referrals within 24 hours and offer appointments seven days a week while connecting with the patient and their family. The program will be able to provide support for 50 families at a time for up to four weeks per family. 

“We’ve reviewed all of our Children’s Addiction & Mental Health services in Red Deer and made changes to how we can best serve our clients, empower families and provide care in the right space,” adds Amy Cote, Director of Central Zone Addiction & Mental Health – Children, Youth and Families. “This has the potential to strengthen family networks, and also ease pressures on the emergency department and inpatient facilities.” 

The Acute at Home program is currently in the final stages of recruiting staff. 

Other improvements include:

  • Increasing the number of youth psychiatric beds at the hospital from eight to twelve
  • Establishing a mental health navigator position, giving families a single point of contact to access the appropriate mix and level of services for their child. This position will be assigned to more complex cases. 
  • Adding single-session, walk-in mental health counselling sessions two evenings a week at the 49th Street Addiction & Mental Health outpatient clinic. This service helps young patients receive an appropriate level of care, and puts safety plans or Acute at Home supports in place, rather than have individuals present to emergency.