April, 2018

Welcome again to 'The Link', an e-newsletter sharing information, successes, and resources resulting from GP and Specialist Shared Care initiatives from across the Province. Please share if you like what you read.

The Child and Youth Mental Health and and Substance Use (CYMHSU) Collaborative officially wrapped up this past December leaving many legacies as a result of the work of 2,600 individuals involved in this four-year change initiative. In the interest of helping to encourage the continued spread of successful CYMHSU activities and strategies, we are sharing details on some of these legacies below. We will continue to share in future newsletters in case you find them useful or wish to get involved.

At the Legacy Congress of the CYMHSU Collaborative, physicians made a point of formally requesting ongoing meetings with their colleagues to continue their work for this population. As a result, the Shared Care Committee has committed funds over two years to support a CYMHSU Community of Practice. 145 physicians have joined the group, demonstrating the widespread interest in networking with physician colleagues and partners to improve care for this vulnerable population. You can read a short summary of their first meeting here. If you're interested in getting involved, please contact Nikita Soares at nsoares@doctorsofbc.ca.

Adverse Childhood Experiences Summit: BC & Beyond

As another legacy of the Collaborative, the Shared Care Committee held BC's first Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) Summit: BC & Beyond in Vancouver this past Fall. 

Over the course of Summit's two days, close to 600 people came together from BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario and the US, to explore how to prevent and mitigate the negative impact of ACEs on physical and mental health across lifetimes. 

Attendees included physicians, mental health experts, educators, academic researchers, First Nations organizations, criminal justice representatives, community agencies, health authorities, provincial government policy-makers and politicians, as well as youth and families impacted by ACEs.

You can read a short summary and access presentations and resources from the Summit here. You may also be interested in this published Op Ed on ACEs and the opioid crisis by Doctors of BC President, Dr Trina Larsen Soles in the Vancouver Sun. 

Helping young people in crisis in the ER

Everyone agrees the ER is not the optimal place for children and youth to go to in a mental health and substance use (MHSU) crisis, but people are desperate for help. In the words of one mother “It was 11 pm, my daughter was suicidal, I didn’t know what else to do,” she recalls. Read how an ER protocol and tools are helping to provide a consistent caring response to young people in crisis in our ERs. 

Doctors of BC member? Mini-profiles now available online

If you are a Doctors of BC member, your 2016 Mini-Profile is now available to you exclusively online. The profile provides you with statistics based on the Medical Services Plan (MSP) payments made to you for services provided in the 2016 calendar year, including any settlements or retroactive payments issued as of March 31, 2017. This information allows you to monitor your billings in comparison to your peer group.  Click here to login and view.

Learn what our partners are doing 

• GPSC-GP Update
• Specialist Services-The Focus
• Divisions' Newsletters
• Provincial Dispatch Newsletters