Top 30 Quality Measures

Characteristics of personal life, such as social support, life stress and school readiness, related to health.
Additional Domain(s) : Rehabilitation, Patient-Centeredness

Core Program Description:
A Community Supports Program is designed to help individuals and their support networks in managing the demands of daily life and to promote full citizenship in community. Community Supports differs from traditional mental health services through the focus of interventions and by delivery in the individuals community environment. Staff collaborate with individuals and their support network around functional goals, and provide continuous outreach and support across service settings and as needs change. The range of intensity/ frequency of service is based on need, and will vary by individual. Resources available(e.g. housing, human resources), and critical mass, may challenge health districts to create service access through partnerships or to modify model programs to their capabilities.
Community Supports include:
Case management: a collaborative process which assesses, plans
implements, coordinates, monitors and evaluates the options and services
required to meet an individuals health needs, using communication and
available resources to promote quality, cost-effective outcomes. Access is
available long term, and work with individuals primarily happens in natural
community settings. (see appendix for differentiation from outpatient services)
Assertive Community Treatment or Intensive Community Treatment Teams;
Clubhouses; Consumer and Family Initiatives; Accommodation and Equality
Initiatives; Housing, Employment and Education Supports.
Proactive outreach/case finding: interventions that will increase help-seeking
behaviour and find those who are at risk/hard to find/hard to serve.
Components included in the treatment of disruptive behaviour disorders in
children and youth may also include:
-Multi-modal approach (a combination of psychological and educational
treatments that receive empirical support for their effectiveness in addressing
the needs of the behaviourally challenged youth)
-Community-based approach (within the childs home community)
- Early intervention approach (as early as possible within the developmental
sequence of antisocial behaviour)
- Multi-systemic orientation (i.e. takes place across multiple systems including
the family, school, peer group, etc.)
- Consistent use of behavioural techniques across multiple settings
- Comprehensiveness and sustainability over time (long-term intervention for a
long-term problem)
- Maximization of protective factors (e.g. positive family functioning, child and
family resilience).

Nova Scotia Mental Health System. (2004). Standards for Mental Health Services in Nova Scotia: Revised and Approved March, 2004. Retrieved July 17, 2006, from http://www.gov.ns.ca/health/mhs/pubs/standards_2004.pdf

III: Preliminary research evidence only or evidence based on consensus opinion only.

• This assumes we need to have intensive involvement with all people we work with. Many come with more focused needs/ wants and goals for services. Adding "For persons w/ chronic mental health conditions" would be more approriate.
• This is extremely important to First Nations and Métis people as it corresponds to holistic perceptions of health and well-being.
• Interventions related to this assessment are completely outside the control of anyone in primary health care.

Ratings-based Rank Relevance 59 Actionability 59 Overall Importance 47		Stakeholder Rank Academics 58 Clinicians 73 Consumers 22 Decision Makers 67 �		Special Group Rank First Nations 52 Rural Areas 21 Federal Stakeholders 90
Regional Rank BC AB SK MB ON QC NB NS PE NL YT NT NU 55 46 29 61 49 47 61 122 65 106 47 62 37				Overall Rank        51