A new transportation initiative is trying to help youth in rural communities throughout Middlesex County and nearby communities access emergency mental health services.
The county transportive initiative will help youth aged 16 to 25 in Lucan, Parkhill, Exeter and Strathroy-Caradoc access free transportation to mental health care when they need it.
The program, coordinated by MINDS of London-Middlesex and Lawson Health Research Institute, uses a crisis line to contact those in need with a free taxi to take them to and from CMHA’s Mental Health and Addictions Crisis Centre located at 648 Huron St.
“Through our collaborative work, we’ve heard from many youth that transportation is a barrier for them when trying to access mental health services when in crisis. Youth in rural areas find this very challenging since most services are not close to their location,” said Romaisa Pervez, who is a research assistant at MINDS of London-Middlesex.
MINDS, which stands for Mental Health Incubator for Disruptive Solution. is a social innovation lab that works with youth and community members to address issues in the mental health care system.
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The program is also developed in partnership with the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) of Elgin-Middlesex, Star Taxi and Middlesex County through the Lucan and Parkhill Libraries.
Youth in need can connect with CMHA’s outreach line at http://www.reachout247.ca, or by phone at 519-433-2023, which is accessible 24/7, and callers will be supported and assessed by the crisis line staff.
Staff will then determine if a visit to the London Crisis Centre is needed, and then contact Star Taxi to transition the person from the crisis line to the CMHA Crisis Centre in London, a news release from Lawson read.
To ensure safety, Lawson said Star Taxi drivers have received training developed by CMHA regarding mental health and crisis de-escalation, as well as suicide prevention training by Living Works.
“We do not have the exact numbers of Transitional Aged Youth (TAY) living in rural Middlesex who would benefit from access to the county transport initiative, but we know that mental health services in rural communities are limited, and that access to the services available in larger city centres is challenging due to transportation difficulties,” Cathy Burghardt-Jesson, warden for Middlesex County said.
“Transportation from Middlesex to London, where the majority of mental health resources are located, is underdeveloped as there are limited bus routes and schedules. This leaves little in the way of affordable transit options for TAY in crisis.”
Funding for the initiative is coming from St. Joseph’s Health Care Foundation and the support of individual donors in the community.
“With additional funding, the initiative could be scaled up to reach as many youth as possible in Middlesex County and beyond,” said Pervez.
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