The Government of Ontario is teaming up with the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, The Hospital for Sick Children, Trillium Health Partners, the University of Toronto and a private donor to provide a total of $60 million in new funding for the creation of an alliance that will help people who are either at risk of, or currently living with, both physical and mental illnesses.
The Medical Psychiatry Alliance aims to develop new screening and diagnostic tools to ensure that patients are properly diagnosed. It also aims to ensure that physical and mental illnesses are treated simultaneously so patients receive the best care available.
Another goal of the new initiative is to develop specialized clinical training for medical students focused on the management of co-occurring physical and mental illness.
Additionally, the Medical Psychiatry Alliance plans to research and test new ways to deliver psychiatric care at home. It will also create a simulation centre for students and professionals to learn and test new approaches to treating physical and mental illness using actor patients in realistic scenarios.
Ontario is providing the Medical Psychiatry Alliance with up to $20 million over the next six years to lead the initiative. An unnamed private philanthropist is donating $20 million to the work of the alliance over the same period. The members of the alliance are contributing $20 million as well.
In Ontario, more than 1.3 million people experience physical illness and mental illness at the same time. Up to 25% of people living with chronic health issues also struggle with mental illnesses that contribute to their physical illness.
“Mental illness is often hidden within the symptoms of physical disorders, with treatment focusing on physical illness while the mental illness remains undiagnosed and untreated,” says Deb Matthews, Ontario’s minister of health and long-term care, explaining that the new initiative strives to bridge that gap.
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