Meet Group Health Centre’s (GHC) recently launched Wellness Team. The Wellness Team is an innovative approach to build capacity for our primary care providers by creating a support network for patients. The team will continue to expand and provide the services most needed by our patients. We are excited to launch with a new team focused on mental health.
According to the World Health Organization, around 450 million people are currently experiencing some form of mental illness around the world, and 6.7 million of those people are Canadian.
With the growing rise in mental health concerns, there is a serious need for counselling and support. That is where GHC’s Wellness Team comes in.
The Wellness team, launched in January of this year, was developed to help GHC patients 18 years and older who are looking for mental health support.
The program is centred around short-term narrative counselling, where patients can come for one to three sessions to talk to a registered social worker, where they will be provided with counselling and the mental health support they need. From there, patients are re-evaluated and may be prescribed further help or resources to aid them in their mental health journey.
“A cool thing about this program is that it is easily accessible to Group Health Centre patients. We have had many patients walk through our door who have never experienced any sort of counselling. It’s great to see them have those aha moments where they realize what is affecting them and how they can work to resolve it” explained Jacob, a registered social worker on the team.
“Those breakthrough moments are so special for both us and the patients. Helping them realize triggers or past events that have affected them in more ways than they knew before highlights why this work is so important”, explained Hayley, another registered social worker on the team. “We give them an outlet to explore things that may be affecting them in a safe space.”
The team takes pride in the welcoming environment that they have created. “We try to make the environment comfortable for the patients we service. Having a space that patients feel safe in is very important to us as a team,” said Jacob.
By structuring questions in a way that helps patients come to new realizations on their own, the team’s approach encourages reflection. Their focus is on highlighting the patients’ strengths and helping them make connections within themselves. By co-developing a narrative together, they work collaboratively with patients, meeting them where they are in their journey.
Although they only started a few months ago, the team has already seen many success stories and are excited for what is ahead.
“We are still in the beginning stages, but we cannot wait to see how this program evolves and expands in the years to come,” said Hayley.
The Wellness Team is open to GHC patients 18 years and older. For more information about how to be referred to our Wellness Team, please talk to your primary care provider.
