Mental health recovery teams launched across Sask.

The Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) is launching eight new mental health teams to cities across the province in an effort to ease the caseload for other specialists.

The “community recovery teams” will aim to help mental health patients with persistent symptoms, assisting in keeping them from being hospitalized and pushing them to achieve their goals.

Funded to the tune of $4.2 million by the provincial and federal governments, the eight teams are being deployed in Saskatoon, Regina, Prince Albert, North Battleford, Swift Current, Moose Jaw, Yorkton and Weyburn.

Team members are expecting to spend more of their time helping patients in the community, as opposed to in the office.

“That’s what recovery is really about. If people get stabilized in their own environment, in their own community, they stay well longer,” said Michelle Robson, manager for mental health and addictions services.

She noted their first focuses will be on patients deemed “difficult to serve” by other mental health services.

The move could reduce wait times for mental health services.

“It will free up the current case managers to be able to do some more work with their less intense and less complex cases,” Robson said.

The teams are using a “holistic and team-based” approach to assist patients, enlisting the services of a mental health nurse, social worker, clinical counselor, occupational therapist, addiction counselor and assessor coordinator.

Funding for the program is being provided by the Canada-Saskatchewan bilateral funding agreement, which announced in January 2017 that $350 million would be pumped into the province over 10 years for home and community care as well as mental health and addiction services.