Family forum newsletter Christmas 2015

VOLUME 5

The Family Advisory Council of Parkwood Institute Mental Health Care and Southwest Center for Forensic Mental Health Care

Family Forum Newsletter

1. Christmas wishes from the Family Advisory Council

2. Family member gets candid about mental illness

3 Who is who and what do they do?

Meet the FLEX teams 5. Upcoming course for families 6. Patient experience survey 7. Remembering Kathy Burrill 8. Information for families 9. Calendar of events

On behalf of the Parkwood Institute Men-

tal Health Care & Southwest Centre for

Forensic Mental Health Care’s Family Ad-

visory Council, please enjoy this festive

season immersed in new and old tradi-

tions with your loved ones.

Merry Christmas and best wishes for

health and wellness in the new year!

Front row, L to R: Marg Pressey, Christine Boyd, Wade and Marie

Steers, Fay Beaton and Nancy Grady

Middle row, L to R: Sandy Cerenzia, Livia Paglione, Carol Riddell-

Elson, Laurel Lamarre, Liz Taylor, Janice Wingrove and Sarah,

McCluggage,

Back row, L to R: Kelly Kiteley, Liz McIntosh, Ellen Marshall and

Cathie Gauthier


Jill is one of the latest new members of the Family Advisory

Council. She was kind enough to let us use one of her writings

on her blog. Below is an excerpt of her posted article.

I have had close experience with mental health. When I was in grade 5, my precious grade 4 teacher committed suicide. I

loved her and I miss her. The man I married has struggled with depression and has spent time in the hospital for periods of

recovery from clinical depression. It is really hard for someone to understand mental illness without education and/or experi-ence. My husband is still learning from experience with 10 plus

years having depression. I have known him for 3 years and I am only beginning to scratch the surface of knowledge on this

topic. Depression is hard. It is not glamorous. It is emotionally

messy and mentally confusing. Everyone knows someone

with depression or mental illness. These people need our help.

Many want help, and may never ask for help because they are

scared to ask.

I felt like God gave me the ability to open the floodgates wide open on this issue. There has been mental health problems in

my family history. I have a fire lit behind my bottom and there is no turning back. The stigma of mental illness needs to end. We need to make a safe place for people battling the darkest

days of depression. It seems like people in social situation ask “How are you?” The response is nearly always, “good”, “well”, “fine”. My question is this, how is it that everyone is

A family member gets candid A family member gets candid A family member gets candid

about mental illnessabout mental illnessabout mental illness

always okay? Where is the transparency? I am sure not eve-

ryone I have asked this to is “always “ okay. What if you are

having a bad day? What if you are in the blackest pit of de-pression and you are feeling no hope? Why is it so socially awkward to admit this? My husband said that some people

do not want to seek help or are too proud to ask. This appre-hension is not entirely born from stigma but it can be. Some-

times you may so desperately require a stranger's kindness.

Something I struggle with is the physical manifestation of mental illness. It is sometimes hard to know who might

have mental health problems because of physical appear-ance. Many people with crippling depression or anxiety look

exactly like a person who is perfectly healthy— except their

brain chemistry is not visible. They resemble an average

person walking into any public area. A person can have de-

pression and appear depression free.

We need to create safe places for people with depression/anxiety/mood disorders etc. to talk. We need to give them grace. We need to open the conversation to create a safe

place for everyone. We need to talk to our government about the prevalence of mental illness and the provided care sufferers require. We need to not be terrified to talk to peo-

ple about mental illness. People need us.

So let’s take a stand. Step by step. Together we can end the

stigma.

By Jill Shea


What are teams?

In continuing with introducing different teams that are part of Parkwood Institute’s Men-tal Health Care programs, we would like you to meet the 3 FLEX teams that work with out- patients. There is also a smaller fourth team which has some, but not all, aspects of the FLEX model implemented. We had the opportunity to inter-

view Joanne Andrews who is the coordinator of Adult Ambulato-ry Services and one of the first questions posed was “Is FLEX an

acronym and if so what does it stand for?” Joanne explained that it is not an acronym but rather describes the model of how the teams

provide services to out-patients. In short, the level or intensity of care and frequency of patient visits can be increased or “flexed up” depending on patient need. Some examples given for flexing

up services were: a patient in crisis, a person’s symptoms increasing, or a patient being recently discharged from hospital. These can be considered high risk times for people. The 3 teams are inter-professional, meaning they have discipline specific services includ-ing, social work, therapeutic recreation, nursing, occupational therapy, psychology and psychiatry. Each patient has a psychiatrist and a primary clinician. The primary clinician role is taken on by a variety of different disciplines. The primary clinician acts as a case manager, is the primary contact for the patient and ensures that the patient’s care is coordinated. The teams provide services which are wrapped around the patients needs. The team strives to ensure continuity of care, so the patient always sees the same primary clinician and psychiatrist on the team but

can also access discipline specific intervention and “flexed up” care from various team members. Each flex team has approximately eight to nine clinicians including the team leader and has a case load of 250 to 300 patients. There is currently no waiting list for Adult Ambulatory Services.

Reception/Waiting room

area Carol Wettlaufer

Flex 1: Back Row: l to r: Scott Sherin, RN; Dr. Kotin, Psy-

chiatrist; Shannon Brauen, OT; Heather Cohen, SW; Anna

Pien-Boate, RN; Dr. Sharma, Psychiatrist; Front Row l to r:

Tanya Oakley, SW; Caroline Tinning, RN;

Flex 2: left to right: Charlyn House, SW; Gerard Murphy,

RN; Wendy Robinson, RN; Sheila Linseman, Psychometrist;

Deb Kerr, secretary; Stephanie Powers, Therapeutic Rec;

Wendy Cherry-Truant, RN; Layla Lozano, SW


The majority of patients who receive services through the FLEX teams are former in-patients of Parkwood Institute’s Mental Health Care programs. If an in-patient team believes a patient needs Adult Ambulatory services post discharge, they would sub-mit a referral through the Coordinated Access Team (CAT). Referrals from the commu-nity for outpatient mental health would be submitted to the Coordinated Intake team housed at London Health Science Centre. Some of the services and treatment that are offered are: medication manage-ment and education, moni-toring of mental health sta-

tus, support and counselling, skill building, Illness Man-agement and Recovery, Dialectical Behaviour Therapy, and Cognitive Behaviour Therapy. The goal of the services and treatment provided is linked to the individuals’ recov-ery plan. There is no definite time frame for the length of time that services and treatment can be received; howev-er, services are intended to be goal oriented. The overall goal is to reintegrate the individual into the community and to link with community services or programs depend-ing on their needs. We have received positive feedback from individuals receiving care from this program and a common theme seems to be the importance of the continuity of care that promotes the therapeutic relationship. We wish to recognize the teams’ important contribution to the patients care and helping them to transition successfully back into the com-munity.

Flex 3: L to R—Back Row: Dr. Lauren Mussen; Trish Self, RN; Sue

Hoornaert, RN; Rageeta Rajan, SW; Dr. Harrison, Psychologist;

Front Row: Dr. Eastwood, Psychiatrist; Maureen Kononiuk, RN;

Tammy Rice, OT; Alison Laplante, OT; Ashley Malin, Psychology

Team 4: L to R: Bill Seymour, RN; Sarah Kantor, SW; Deb

Kerr, Secretary; Laurie Willimott, RN; Joanne Andrews,

Coordinator

Dr. Sandra Northcott, Physician Lead and

Flex 2 physician, Dr. Beletsky, Flex 3 physi-

cian featured with artwork from patients


Out of the mouths of babes…..

If a telemarketer calls,

give the telephone to your

3-year-old and tell her it’s

Santa!!!

Educational opportunity for families: Concurrent Disorders

An eight week course for families wishing to learn more about concurrent disorders will be held at no charge by educator Larry Lalone. The course begins Wednesday, January 27, from 6 to 8 pm at Parkwood Institute’s Mental Health Care Building. No registration is required.

For further information, you can contact Laurel Lamarre at 519 646-6100, ext. 47440 or email [email protected]

All family members who wish to learn more about mental health and addictions are encouraged to attend these courses. Please

review the calendar on the last page of the newsletter for specific dates.

"Don't kid me, Mom, I know they're my feet." - - 3 year old son, when his mother told him his shoes were on the wrong feet

"They didn't see it -- it was all cut off!" -- 2 year old son, when his mother was asked how his grandpar-ents liked his new haircut

Daddy, did your hair slip?" -- 3 year old son, to his bald but long bearded father

“Daddy picked them up and looked underneath. I think it's printed on the bottom." -- 3 year old son, when his mother asked how his father knew the genders of four new baby kittens

"How will that help?" -- Kindergar-ten student, when the class was instructed to hold up two fingers if any of them had to go to the bath-room

A little girl was diligently pound-ing away on her grandfather's word processor. She told him she was writing a story. "What's it about?" he asked. "I don't know," she replied. "I can't read."

A father was reading Bible stories to his young son. He read, "The man named Lot was warned to take his wife and flee out of the city, but his wife looked back and was turned to salt." His son asked, "What happened to the flea?"

Patient experience survey – we want to hear from those we serve

What is the patient experience survey?

The survey includes a list of questions that ask for patient’s opinions on the mental health care services provided at St. Joseph’s such as: their ability to take part in treatment, the living arrangements, whether their stay has helped them and more.

How will the survey take place?

An outside company - the National Research Corporation Canada [NRCC] will send an employee to our facility to interview pa-tients.

When will the survey take place?

The survey interviews are scheduled to take place in February 2016.

What is the purpose of the survey?

St. Joseph’s strives to provide the best care possible to our patients. In order to do this, we need to know what we are doing well and what we can improve upon. For instance, patients informed us in past surveys that there should be more leisure activ-ities during their stay, which led to the creation of patient drop-in centres.

Will answers be kept private?

Yes. The interviews take place in a private room and NRCC removes any information that can identify a specific patient before they provide us with the results.

If have questions about this survey, whom can I contact?

Your contact is Sania Hasan, Quality Measurement and Clinical Decision Support: 519 685-4000 ext. 42324 [email protected]


The Ontario Family Caregivers’ Advisory Network (OFCAN) has their own website!

The mission of the Ontario Family Caregivers’ Advisory Network is to promote the interest of family caregiver groups of mental health and addiction services and their mandate is:

To build a strong network To foster relationships To educate and encourage Visit their website: http://ofcan.org/


Remembering Kathy Burrill

Kathy Burrill, Vice President Communication, Patient and Public

Relations, passed away suddenly on Tuesday, November 10, 2015.

Kathy was a visionary, a creative mind, keen strategist and a mas-ter storyteller of the mission vision and values of St. Joseph's, who

dedicated herself to keeping our sights on what matters most. She was passionate about sharing both our successes and our challeng-es and encouraged all of us to become storytellers in various ways

as a means to talk to each other and our community.

Kathy's story ended far too soon. In our hearts she will remain, al-ways, a cherished member of the St. Joseph's family. Her eloquent

words, her talent, her vision, her presence of the last 31 years live

on in the chronicles and legacy of our organization.

Wish that I could wrap up Christmas

I wish that I could wrap up all the love and Holiday cheer That comes along with Christmas and with New

Year's every year, Pack it in a pretty box and put it on my shelf And pull it down again each year and give it to myself.

I wish that I could tie up all my favorite carols with twine,

Wind around some ribbon, too, and for twelve months call them mine Until the next Yuletide came when the sounds again could be unfurled And untie every single one then give them to the world

T he Family Resource Centre offers a variety of services for families, their loved ones and mental health professionals, including:

A resource library which contains current books, magazines, videos, audio tapes, and pamphlets on most mental illnesses

An opportunity to meet one-on-one with another family member who has had a personal experience with mental illness and the mental health system

Participation in a support group comprised of 5-10 family members affected by mental illness (every second Tuesday)

A free seven week family education course offered twice per year (Spring/Fall)

Speakers for community groups

Membership on the Family Advisory Council

A computer for family members to search for internet information on mental health

We are located at Parkwood’s Institute for Mental Health Care Building 550 Wellington Road—Room F2-191

The Family Resource Centre is open: Monday to Friday: 8 am - 4 pm (unless otherwise posted) Contact us at: 519 646-6100 Ext. 47440 or visit our webpage

https://www.sjhc.london.on.ca/mental-health-care/family-resource-centre-advisory-council

Attention Family Members!

Did you know that we offer a FREE support group to family mem-bers who are supporting a loved one with a mental illness?

The Support Group meets every second Tuesday from 1:30 to 3 pm, at Parkwood Insti-tute’s Mental Health Care Building. Dates posted in calendar.

Interested in this group, call the Family Resource Centre at 519 646-6100, Ext. 47440 for further details.


Here is a list of some upcoming activities happening in-volving the Family Advisory Council or other groups to educate or assist patients and their families. Contact the Family Resource Centre at 519 – 455-5110 Ext. 47440

Merry Christmas - December 25

Boxing Day - December 26

Family Advisory Council – January 11, February 8, March 14

Family Support Group - January 5th, 19th, February 2nd, 16th, March 1st, 15th, 29th

Education on Concurrent Disorders for families:—January 27, February 3rd, 10th, 18th, March 2nd, 9th, 16th and 23rd

If you are interested in donating to Mental Health Care Programs at St. Joseph’s

Contact: Senior Development Officer 519-646-6100, ext. 65454

Donations for the Family Resource Centre can be made directly to:

St. Joseph's Health Care Foundation Attn: Dr. Wm. A. Tillmann Memorial Fund Resource Centre for Families 268 Grosvenor Street London, ON N6A 4V2

This newsletter is intended to be used as a communication vehicle by the Family Advisory Council at St. Joseph’s Mental Health Care with families who share common interests and concerns. The infor-mation herein is believed to be

accurate; St. Joseph’s, the Family Advisory Council, and the author(s) cannot be held responsible for any errors. It is the responsibility of the reader to work with profes-sionals when making any clinical decisions

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Family forum newsletter Christmas 2015

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