A center specializing in mental health for teens opens Monday in Montreal
Next Monday, the Montreal Children's Hospital will inaugurate the Center specializing in mental health for teenagers, called Le SPOT Montréal, to support 1,000 teenagers each year who have contemplated or attempted suicide.
The goal is to develop an individualized and intensive treatment plan to help alleviate the suicidal crisis and provide techniques to facilitate the management of psychological distress, explains Dr. Martin Gignac, head of the department of child psychiatry
at the Hospital. of Montreal for children.
To do this, SPOT Montreal relies on a multidisciplinary approach based on the expertise of psychologists,
social workers, psychoeducators and nurses.
The Center wishes to offer a rapid service to patients, in the hours following their hospitalization after
an episode of psychological distress, assures Dr. Gignac.
The goal is to develop an individualized and intensive treatment plan to help alleviate the suicidal crisis and provide techniques to facilitate the management of psychological distress, explains Dr. Martin Gignac, head of the department of child psychiatry
at the Hospital. of Montreal for children.
To do this, SPOT Montreal relies on a multidisciplinary approach based on the expertise of psychologists,
social workers, psychoeducators and nurses.
The Center wishes to offer a rapid service to patients, in the hours following their hospitalization after
an episode of psychological distress, assures Dr. Gignac.
Thus, young patients will be supported within 72 hours of being referred by hospital emergency specialists.
The Montreal Children's Hospital adds that the average wait time for community mental health services is six months.
Up to 12 weeks of therapyOn the program, individual therapies with a psychologist, family approaches and group meetings, including lessons on skills, for example on the use of social networks, lists the specialist in mental health for children and adolescents.
Also, the follow-up will allow adolescents to continue to attend school and pursue their other activities.
At the end of the 12 weeks of therapy, a bridge will be created with community resources , specifies Dr. Gignac.
Although the initiative represents a short-term solution, within a month, unfortunately, there is a turnover
of patients who will come back , underlines the specialist.
COVID-19 and psychological distressThe Montreal Children's Hospital says that since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, distress among children
and adolescents has increased at an alarming rate .
Between 2020 and 2021, the number of young people and their families who turned to the emergency room of this hospital for psychosocial and psychological problems jumped by 35%.
“ For the past few years, our hospital beds were not enough to admit patients. We had patients who ended up on medical services and not psychiatric ones. We had to hospitalize people outside the child psychiatry department. »
— A quote from Dr. Martin GignacIn a report published at the end of January, the National Institute of Public Health of Quebec (INSPQ) found that the number of teenage girls who visited Quebec emergency rooms after attempting suicide increased by 23% in 2021. .
The cost of designing and building SPOT Montreal and providing its range of services is $12 million over 10 years. In six months, The Montreal Children's Hospital Foundation raised $12 million for Le SPOT Montreal.
The Montreal Children's Hospital adds that the average wait time for community mental health services is six months.
Up to 12 weeks of therapyOn the program, individual therapies with a psychologist, family approaches and group meetings, including lessons on skills, for example on the use of social networks, lists the specialist in mental health for children and adolescents.
Also, the follow-up will allow adolescents to continue to attend school and pursue their other activities.
At the end of the 12 weeks of therapy, a bridge will be created with community resources , specifies Dr. Gignac.
Although the initiative represents a short-term solution, within a month, unfortunately, there is a turnover
of patients who will come back , underlines the specialist.
COVID-19 and psychological distressThe Montreal Children's Hospital says that since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, distress among children
and adolescents has increased at an alarming rate .
Between 2020 and 2021, the number of young people and their families who turned to the emergency room of this hospital for psychosocial and psychological problems jumped by 35%.
“ For the past few years, our hospital beds were not enough to admit patients. We had patients who ended up on medical services and not psychiatric ones. We had to hospitalize people outside the child psychiatry department. »
— A quote from Dr. Martin GignacIn a report published at the end of January, the National Institute of Public Health of Quebec (INSPQ) found that the number of teenage girls who visited Quebec emergency rooms after attempting suicide increased by 23% in 2021. .
The cost of designing and building SPOT Montreal and providing its range of services is $12 million over 10 years. In six months, The Montreal Children's Hospital Foundation raised $12 million for Le SPOT Montreal.
