BACK TO HOSPITAL LISTING
CHEO FOUNDATION
ENHANCED CARE TO PREVENT MENTAL HEALTH CRISIS
$801,578
TOTAL FUNDS RECEIVED TO DATE
$308,166
TOTAL FUNDS RECEIVED IN 2022
$282,527
TOTAL FUNDS RECEIVED IN 2021
$210,885
TOTAL FUNDS RECEIVED IN 2020
HOSPITAL PROGRAM OVERVIEW
Over the past five years CHEO’s Emergency Department (ED) has seen a dramatic increase in children and youth presenting with suicidal ideation and attempts. In response, CHEO has developed two programs to enhance care and service delivery for children at risk of or in the early stages of mental health challenges. Aided by Family of Support, we are investing in these programs to support more children and families and ensure fewer patients reach a crisis stage.
The Head to Toe program (H2T) introduces suicide screening for all admitted, inpatient youth aged 12 and older using a brief validated tool (Ask Suicide-Screening Questions). If a patient responds in the affirmative to any of the four questions, nurses ensure that the patient receives a timely mental health assessment.
The Dialectical Behaviour Therapy program (DBT) was developed to address the needs of adolescents who have difficulty regulating their emotions, resulting in chronic or repeated suicidal ideation, self-injury, family conflict and school problems. The CHEO DBT team provides training in the hospital and the community to expand access to DBT treatment.
An important strength of the Family of Support initiative is grounded in the trust The Sobey Foundation and Empire Company Limited have shown for children’s hospitals by empowering them to allocate funds to the areas they see as most urgent.
Intersections of Mental and Physical Health
Aided by the Family of Support, in 2022 CHEO continued to operate the Head to Toe program (H2T), which performs suicide screening for all admitted, inpatient youth aged 12 and older using a brief, validated questionnaire. If a patient answers “yes” to any of the four questions in the screening tool, nurses ensure that the patient receives a timely mental health assessment. This program responds to evidence that young people who present in the Emergency Department (ED) for physical injuries ostensibly unrelated to a mental health concern may in fact be at elevated risk for suicide. The screening tool ensures that we provide appropriate care and support to every child and youth who enters the ED – never missing an opportunity to provide suicide-prevention support when it’s needed.
Urgent Care
At CHEO, recent investments to increase ED capacity to support young people during mental health crises have focused on personnel. Family of Support has helped to fund the presence of a dedicated mental health-focused child and youth counsellor in the ED, 24/7. This around-the-clock presence not only ensures specialized care for patients who present at the ED in mental health crisis, it also provides important support to allied care professionals whose primary focus is not mental health but who may be caring for patients with an illness or injury that is exacerbating a mental health challenge.
