CHEO Children’s Hospital Foundation

TOTAL FUNDS RECEIVED TO DATE

$1,569,113

8,384

Assessments

607

People trained

3,923

Patients served

3

Treatment spaces

My CHEO experience made me realize just how interconnected my mental and physical health are and how important it is to take care of both. My advice to anyone struggling with their mental health: reach out for help! Once you have a diagnosis and a treatment plan, you'll understand yourself and your struggles better, and learn healthy ways to cope.

— Serenity, CHEO patient

Program overview

Head to Toe (H2T)

H2T is a suicide screening program for all admitted, inpatient youth 12 and older. If a patient answers “yes” to any of the questions in the validated screening tool, nurses facilitate a mental health assessment. The screening aims to ensure that care teams never miss an opportunity to provide suicide-prevention support.

Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT)

The DBT program 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 in the community.

Child and Youth Counsellor (CYC) in the ED

Family of Support has helped to fund the presence of a dedicated mental health-focused CYC in the ED, 24/7. This around-the-clock presence ensures specialized care for patients who present at the ED in mental health crisis and supports allied care professionals.

How Family of Support Funding Has Helped

Funds provided by Family of Support have helped to:

Gain the flexibility to adopt a new evidence-based intervention (H2T)
Extend the benefits of dialectical behavioural therapy beyond the hospital and into the community
Expand the hours during which mental health support is available in the ED.

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