Care for the most vulnerable

ental illness is two to three times more common in Canadian prisons than in the general population. Inmates with mental illness have an urgent need for quality mental health care. That is their right.

The Forensic Early Intervention Service (FEIS) is one way CAMH is meeting the mental health needs of this vulnerable population.

Simple pleasures

Through a $1,000 grant from the CAMH Gifts of Light Comfort Fund, a library at the Toronto South Detention Centre is improving moods and helping patients recover through the simple pleasures of a good book.

“Reading is one thing our patients have control over, and literature can be such a powerful means of escape,” says Katy Konyk, a social worker with FEIS.

The library is just one of many projects made possible through the Comfort Fund. Created through the vision of an anonymous donor, the fund provides grants of up to $5,000 each to support small but meaningful projects not funded by the hospital’s operating or capital budgets. Since it launched in 2013, 313 applications have been received and $294,165 has been granted to projects to improve outcomes for patients.

Located at the Toronto South Detention Centre, FEIS is a partnership between CAMH, the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services and the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care. Since launching in January 2015, the service has received over 1,200 referrals and provided mental health screening, triage, and interventions to 712 inmates.

We act flexibly in every effort to support these clients, enhancing the possibility of success once they are back in the community.”

Dr. Kiran Patel

“Correctional services staff have commented that their clients are engaging well with FEIS, noting an improvement in clients’ overall mood, including mental status and ability to manage their behaviours and engage with others,” says Jim McNamee, Executive Director of the Complex Mental Illness Program at CAMH.

CAMH’s Dr. Kiran Patel, Forensic Psychiatrist, credits FEIS’ success to the interdisciplinary team of psychiatrists, psychologists, occupational therapists, nurses, and social workers who work in innovative ways to help a vulnerable, stigmatized and disenfranchised population.

“We act flexibly in every effort to support these clients, enhancing the possibility of success once they are back in the community,” says Dr. Patel.

FEIS will expand to Milton’s Vanier Centre for Women in the fall. With an estimated 44 per cent of inmates in Ontario self-reporting a mental health or addiction issue, it’s hoped that FEIS, the only program of its kind in Ontario, will become a blueprint for many future programs.