For the newest MEDITECH podcast, I recently spoke with Sanaz Riahi, RN, PhD, Vice President, Practice, Academics and Chief Nursing Executive at Ontario Shores Centre for Mental Health Sciences in Whitby, Ontario, about how her organization responded to the region’s mental health crisis amid COVID-19.
According to a study published in May 2020, nearly three quarters of Ontarians surveyed said they were facing increased mental health challenges from pandemic-related causes, including the death of loved ones, job losses, school closures, isolation from others, and overtaxed healthcare workers.
In part 1, Riahi explains how Ontario Shores coordinated with several leading mental health and addictions organizations during the pandemic and launched a new campaign, Everything Is Not OK, aimed at highlighting the impact of COVID-19 on the mental health of the population and calling for immediate action by all levels of government to reduce wait times for mental health and addiction services.
Ontario Shores implemented MEDITECH’s Patient and Consumer Health Portal, which in their last evaluation demonstrated that it allowed its providers to engage more patients and improve outcomes, including a 67-percent higher likelihood that patients attended their scheduled appointments and received the care they needed.
Listen to part 1 of the podcast to learn more about how Ontario Shores supported its patients and frontline caregivers throughout the pandemic.
Then, check out part 2, where Riahi discusses how she sees technology supporting the future of mental health.
Learn how the MEDITECH Patient and Consumer Health Portal supports more effective, integrated patient care.
