Child and Youth Mental Health and Substance Use

The Child and Youth Mental Health and Substance Use (CYMHSU) Provincial Collaborative is a group of passionate individuals working collectively to increase the number of children, youth, and their families, receiving timely access to integrative mental health and substance use services and supports. 

Within the Provincial Collaborative framework, Local Action Teams (LAT) are a diverse cross-section of community mental health and substance use service providers, stakeholders, and youth and families. The CYMHSU Collaborative framework structurally places youth and families at the center of all the work. The CYMHSU  Collaborative is designed by a structured collaborative, a change model pioneered by the US Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) that is now being used worldwide as a method of rapid, continuous quality improvement in health care. Under the model, local action teams are built and come together to commit to improve areas of policy or practice that they have identified and define during the process of collaboration. 

Thompson Region was one of the first communities to embark on forming the LAT framework. The Thompson Region's LAT consist of families, who have personal experience with the mental health system, aboriginal peoples and groups, family physicians and specialists, health authorities, mental health and substance use experts, Ministry of Children and Family Development, School District 73, and local community organizations.

To see what Working Groups and projects the Thompson Local Action Team is currently working on please visit the most current Chartlet.

As a result of a Thompson Child and Youth Mental Health and Substance Use (CYMHSU) Transitions in Care initiative, a Patient Journey Mapping exercise was completed and presented at the Interdivisional Strategic Council in November 2012, Deputy Minister of Ministry of Child and Family Development at the time, Stephen Brown. Largely influenced by the Thompson Region and Shuswap-North Okanagan's presentations, along with strong endorsement from other Division Leads, and Child and Youth Mental Health and Substance Use Provincial Collaborative was initiated. 

To see what Working Groups and projects the Thompson Local Action Team is currently working on please visit the most current Chartlet.

Resources

Fear not - there is help for children and youth with anxiety and other useful articles on CYMHSU by Dr. David Smith

Dr. David Smith, adolescent and adult psychiatrist, and the medical director of the Okanagan Psychiatric services for Interior Health, has written a series of columns with information on how and when to access services for common child and youth mental health issues.
 

This series is a project of the Child and Youth Mental Health and Substance Use Collaborative and includes articles on depression, anxiety, and bipolar disorder. All articles can be found below.

1. Mental health for children and youth - how to get the help you need >
2. Fear not - there is help for children and youth with anxiety >
3. Recognizing the signs and symptoms of depression in your child or teen >
4. Drugs, alcohol and mental health problems: which came first? >
5. Eating disorders and obsessive-compulsive disorder >
6. Bipolar disorder and Schizophrenia >
7. Reducing stigma and getting the family support you need >
8. Self-Harm - "Why is my child doing this?" >
9. Child & youth mental health help through new streamlined intake clinics >
10. Teens and Stress >
11. Learning Simple CBT Skills for Mental Distress >

Information Sharing Guidelines

Information Sharing in the Context of Mental Health and Substance Use in BC >

For more information, please contact: 
Thompson Region Division of Family Practice 
(250) 372-1621
thompsonregion@divisionsbc.ca