These nurses treat mental health patients wherever they might find them
Guest: Sebastian Bron, reporter at The Hamilton Spectator
Our health care systems are set up with the expectation someone struggling is functional enough to schedule, travel and arrive at appointments and be in the driver’s seat of their care. Not everyone can do that, so St. Joe’s mobile mental-health clinic in Hamilton has flipped the model on its head. Nurses and paramedics hit the road by bus to provide mobile mental health care everywhere from a Tim Hortons coffee shop, to a library, a shelter or off the grid completely. Patients are more engaged with their care, they are more regularly treated, and they are able to build rapport and trust with the broken system they are used to. Sebastian Bron, a general assignment reporter at The Hamilton Spectator, recently spent a day with the team and their patients. He joins “This Matters” to share his observations.
This episode was produced by Sean Pattendon and Brian Bradley.
Audio Sources: Sebastian Bron