CAMH Strategic Plan 2003 2006: Overview of CAMH Services and Programs

Clinical Programs

Realizing the diverse needs of its clients, CAMH is committed to providing comprehensive, culturally competent and well-coordinated care for people with substance use and mental health problems. Although CAMH offers direct clinical services for people with addiction and mental health problems in Toronto and Peel, through its network of provincial offices, we also provide support and advice to local services and communities across the province to influence change and encourage planning for a range of integrated programs in the addiction and mental health systems.

• Addiction Programs: provides a continuum of services for people with substance use problems including withdrawal management, assessment, treatment for all substances of abuse, programs for unique populations, problem gambling and a range of intervention from brief to intensive residential treatment.
• Child, Youth and Family (in partnership with the Hospital for Sick Children): provides clinical service, research and education for children with addiction and mental health problems.
• Dual Diagnosis: specialized program for individuals with a developmental disability and emotional, behavioural or psychiatric difficulties, their families and care providers.
• Law and Mental Health: provides psychiatric services for people who have been charged with or convicted of a criminal offense, and have been deemed unfit to stand trial or not criminally responsible by reason of mental disorder.
• Mood and Anxiety: an inpatient and outpatient program that provides services for clients with major depression, bipolar disorder (manic depressive illness), anxiety disorders and obsessive-compulsive disorders.
• Neuro-geriatric: for older persons and people with neuropsychiatric problems such as dementia.
• Schizophrenia: provides inpatient and outpatient care for people with schizophrenia at all stages of their illness.
• Women's Program: primarily serves women who have a history of trauma in combination with a diagnosis of mental illness.
• General Psychiatry (in partnership with Mount Sinai): provides mental health services to adults with emotional, psychological or psychiatric problems including emergency services and a psychiatric outreach program.
• : offers treatment for people who are facing both addiction and mental health problems.

Research

CAMH operates central research facilities in Toronto. It translates research into best practices and shares this knowledge with health care professionals across the province, through our network of offices, and beyond.

The research conducted at CAMH falls into three main areas:

• Clinical: supports the research, treatment and education goals of CAMH through scientific publications, presentations and transfer of knowledge to evidence-based practice and to the community at large by focusing on human research.
• Neuroscience: focuses on neurobiological mechanisms underlying addiction, mental illnesses and their respective treatments, including the operation of a Positron Emission Tomography (PET) Centre. 
• Social, Prevention and Health Policy: conducts population surveys and innovative, relevant, rigorous research that contribute to the development of policies, products and services for the addiction and mental health fields.

Health Promotion    

We offer a comprehensive approach to addiction and mental health that enables individuals, families and communities to take control over and improve their mental, physical, spiritual and emotional health. CAMH recognizes the importance of health promotion for all people along the continuum of health. Comprehensive strategies to address health promotion involving public education, public policy and targeted programs are developed implemented and activated. These strategies involve various populations (youth, diversity), settings (school, workplace) and intersectoral partnerships.

Public Education     

CAMH works towards improving public understanding of addiction and mental health, including the elimination of the stigma faced by those with substance use and mental health problems. CAMH provides community-based education, outreach and prevention programs, and provides Ontario communities with resources and expertise to support public education initiatives for schools, workplaces and the general public. Through our Information Services¾including a 1-800 line and Web site, we provide people with access to current, accurate information about alcohol, other drugs and mental health issues.

Program Planning and Development    

CAMH assists in the planning, implementation and evaluation of project-based initiatives to improve addiction and mental health services in communities across Ontario.

Education

CAMH offers a vast spectrum of training and development opportunities across Ontario for people working in addiction, mental health and related fields, including:

• Professional disciplines
• Postgraduate and residency
• Continuing Professional Education
• Continuing Medical Education

CAMH also develops a wide range of evidence-based resource materials and publications to support the work of addiction and mental health care providers and to help inform clients, family members and the general public.

Public Policy Development

Influencing change through public policy development and advocacy has been one of CAMH's priorities since the merger. With input from staff, clients, families and stakeholders, CAMH has developed positions on key issues of importance to our clients and has been working to embed a public policy function in the organization. Public policy and advocacy have been identified as a high priority through the Strategic Directions Renewal Process.  This is consistent with the experience of staff who have found that interest in CAMH's public policy agenda and enthusiasm for CAMH taking on additional public policy topics continues to grow amongst both internal and external stakeholders

Based on feedback from staff and other stakeholders, the Board of Trustees has endorsed an enhanced public policy and advocacy role for the organization, with a focus in the coming years on influencing national health care reform initiatives to ensure an appropriate focus on addiction and mental health issues, addiction and mental health system reform, a national drug strategy, and a response to the needs of people who experience discrimination, disadvantage, and marginalization within the addiction and  mental health systems.

Community Relations

The Community Relations office has a mandate to work with all parts of the organization to ensure that services are inclusive and reflect the needs of the many constituencies that CAMH serves. Its activities include soliciting input from community stakeholders about CAMH's many activities, facilitating a Neighbourhood Liaison Committee to address issues of common concern to people living and working in the area of the Queen Street site, integrating the input of CAMH's numerous program and community advisory committees into an organizational decision-making structure, and taking a lead role in influencing public policies that impact CAMH's clients.

The Diversity Programs Office (DPO)

The DPO is an internal support resource of CAMH, housed in the Community Relations department. The mandate of DPO is to coordinate, initiate, encourage and support diversity changes in CAMH that will result in respectful and inclusive Governance, Human Resources, Service Delivery and Community Partnerships and Stakeholder Relationships. DPO provides expertise, strategic planning, training, leadership, support and coordination to the organization with respect to issues of access and equity for diverse populations. For CAMH, diverse populations include people from marginalized communities or people who have been treated unfairly because of gender, age, race, ethnicity, country of origin, immigration/refugee status, physical, mental or language ability, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion/spirituality, education/literacy, socio-economic status or family and marital status.

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