W14 – Transforming Canadian Psychiatric Services: A Roadmap to Improving Quality
Thursday, Oct. 27
15:45 – 16:45 (1 hr)
Meeting Room: Pine (Mezzanine)
Andrea Waddell*, MD, FRCPC; Tara Burra, MA, MD, FRCPC; Aditya Nidumolu, MD; Helena K. Kim, MD; Heather Bullock, MSc, PhD; Paul Kurdyak, MD, PhD
CanMEDS Roles:
- Communicator
- Collaborator
- Leader
At the end of this session, participants will be able to: 1) Define the role of quality improvement in strengthening the mental health system; 2) Describe improvement initiatives at various levels of the mental health care system; and 3) Identify at least one strategy mental health clinicians can use to make systematic improvements to care.
Quality improvement (QI) has increasingly been emphasized in medicine over the last two decades, but it has been less prominent in psychiatry. Continuous clinical practice improvement is a core element of maintenance of certification with the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. Yet, most of Canada’s approximately 5,000 psychiatrists have no formal training in a systematic approach to improving care. We aim to meet this professional development need through the creation of a new section focused on quality, innovation, and patient safety within the Canadian Psychiatric Association. This workshop offers participants an introduction to the depth and breadth of QI within mental health and addictions care. Three panelists will present applied improvement initiatives at various levels of the mental health care system, including the micro-level (e.g., individual practices or clinics), meso-level (e.g., institutional or regional), and macro-level (e.g., provincial or national). A moderated discussion among panelists and the audience will explore ways attendees can collaborate and contribute to strengthening and improving the quality of Canadian psychiatric care.
References:
- Kilbourne AM, Beck K, Spaeth-Rublee B, et al. Measuring and improving the quality of mental health care: a global perspective. World Psychiatry 2018;17(1):30–8.
- Jones B, Vaux E, Olsson-Brown A. How to get started in quality improvement. BMJ 2019;364:k5408.
