BC Children’s Hospital improves access to mental health care for children and youth

Vancouver – The first service of its kind in Canada, BC Children’s Hospital’s Compass program has increased access to mental health and substance use supports for more than 1,000 children and youth in its inaugural year.

Compass is a telephone resource for community care providers who care for children and youth under the age of 25. In its first year, the focus has been on increasing use by care providers based in rural communities in the North, Interior and on Vancouver Island. More than 60 per cent of those helped have been from these regions.

Dr. Jennifer Russel, Compass’s clinical director, BC Children’s Hospital, said, ““We started this program with the vision of improving the quality of care for children and youth across B.C. struggling with mental health and substance use issues, particularly in rural communities. Our dual approach to providing direct support and increasing provider capacity through education means more and more youth in B.C. are getting better, faster access to the care they need. Together we are working to improve the lives of our children and youth, one call at a time.”

“We started this program with the vision of improving the quality of care for children and youth across B.C. struggling with mental health and substance use issues, particularly in rural communities. Our dual approach to providing direct support and increasing provider capacity through education means more and more youth in B.C. are getting better, faster access to the care they need. Together we are working to improve the lives of our children and youth, one call at a time.”

“We know many children and youth in our province struggle with mental health issues that can turn into major roadblocks if they are not addressed early on. That’s why this Compass program is so important. It connects children and youth to the help they need, when they need it, regardless of where they live in B.C,” said Judy Darcy, Minister of Mental Health and Addictions.

Care providers based in rural communities may have limited experience supporting children and youth with complex mental health and substance use concerns. By calling the multi-disciplinary Compass team made up of psychiatrists, psychologists, nurses, social workers and more, they can access expert information, advice, resources and consultation services remotely, including follow-up support in more complex cases. This improves access to health care for children or youth in their home communities. In consulting with Compass, care providers also develop skills and knowledge that may help them care for future patients.

 “Every person in B.C. deserves high quality public health care. We know that people in more remote areas can experience barriers to accessing specialist mental health and substance use supports which is why the success of programs such as Compass, that take steps to address these barriers, is so important,” said Adrian Dix, Minister of Health.

Compass can also provide direct consultation services to youth across the province who have mental health and substance use concerns. Youth are connected to this service by care providers and it can be done in person or via telehealth.

 Compass’ mandate also includes education for community care providers. The program is developing a provincial education strategy for community providers, including remote training modules like webinars.

 Quick Facts:

 About one in seven young people in B.C. will experience a mental illness at some point, and recent surveys show that increasing numbers of high school students in B.C. report experiencing anxiety and depression.

• Most calls to Compass were for patients with multiple mental health or substance use concerns, indicating that community providers are managing complex cases.
• In approximately 20 per cent of calls made to Compass, care providers identified substance use concerns as an issue their patient is facing. A particular focus of the Compass program is treating youth with concurrent disorders – that is, mental health and substance use issues at the same time.
• In more than 90 per cent of cases, care providers were given all of the information they needed to support their patient in one phone call
• Approximately 85 per cent of calls came from primary care providers, with social workers, school counsellors and others also using the program.
• Providers are finding Compass useful: 23 per cent of providers have used the program to support more than one client.

Learn more:

• Health providers wishing to use this service should visit CompassBC.ca, call 1-855-702-7272 or email compass@cw.bc.ca.

A program of the Provincial Health Services Authority, BC Children’s Hospital provides expert care for the province’s most seriously ill or injured children, youth and young adults, including newborns. BC Childrens’ Child and Youth Mental Health provides a diverse range of specialized kind mental health and substance use services for children, adolescents and young adults across the province. For more information, visit www.bcchildrens.ca or follow us on Twitter @BCChildrensHosp.