Page 76 - 2017-2018 Department of Psychiatry Annual Report

Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Services

Psychiatric services are integrated depending on needs of youth and the therapy. AIS is a provincial service;
within the IWK Mental Health and family working collaboratively with preference for inpatient beds is given
Addictions Program services as other hospital and community teams. to youth outside of Halifax Regional
part of an interdisciplinary treatment Municipality who cannot travel each
team including: community mental IWK Emergency Mental day.
health clinics, specific care clinics, Health and Addictions
adolescent and child intensive Children’s Intensive Services
services, addictions services, Service (EMHAS) (CIS)
forensics services, emergency The IWK Emergency Mental Health
psychiatry service and an acute and Addictions Service provides a 24 Children’s Intensive Services (CIS)
inpatient psychiatry unit. hour emergency service for youth in is a day and inpatient (24/5) program
need of mental health and addictions providing mental health services to
IWK Acute Care Psychiatric crisis intervention up to the age of children aged 5-12 years. Children
are referred by their clinician to
Inpatient Unit (Garron 19. Consults are also received for the service to obtain additional
ER child/adolescent mental health
Centre) and addictions and psychiatric supports for managing challenging
The provincial 14-bed inpatient unit emergency assessment from other emotion regulation and behavior
functions as an assessment and emergency room services across the issues, diagnostic clarification and/
treatment unit for children and youth province. Emergency assessment or medication review. CIS uses
up to the age of 19 with serious and crisis intervention is conducted a Collaborative Problem Solving
mental health and addictions issues collaboratively between emergency Model which focuses on the child’s
requiring acute inpatient psychiatric staff (physicians, nursing) and the strengths and the skills they need
care. The unit provides stabilization, crisis team (clinical social workers to be successful in their everyday
assessment and treatment for and nurses), along with consultation life. Parents and caregivers are
children and youth who require from psychiatry (residents, actively involved in treatment in
intensive support in an inpatient psychiatrists). There is an Urgent helping to understand and address
setting and provides multidisciplinary Care clinic providing short term follow their child’s challenges and to
care to best meet the needs of the up after emergency room visits for participate in treatment decisions.
patients and families admitted to children and youth and their families, CIS is a provincial service; preference
hospital. Children and youth are provided by mental health clinicians. for inpatient beds is given to
admitted through the Emergency youth outside of Halifax Regional
Department or directly from other Adolescent Intensive Municipality who cannot travel each
provincial child and adolescent Services (AIS) day.
psychiatrists.
Adolescent Intensive Services (AIS) Youth Forensic Services
IWK Consultation/Liaison is a day and inpatient program for (includes Nova Scotia Youth
youth aged 13-19 with mental health
Service and/or substance use disorders. Facility Secure Care Unit)
The IWK Consultation Liaison service There are 10 primary mental health The IWK Secure Care Unit (SCU)
provides psychiatric consultations for beds (24/5) and 10 primary addiction/ in Waterville is a three-bed inpatient
children and youth being treated as concurrent disorders beds (24/7) on youth forensic psychiatry unit. Youth
inpatients on the medical and surgical two separate units. Within AIS, there may be hospitalized for 30-day court
units at the IWK Health Centre. are three treatment care teams that ordered mental health assessment,
Psychiatrists work with pediatric and offer different programming to best or require inpatient psychiatric level
surgery teams to help address mental meet the needs of the youth who of care while at the Nova Scotia
health and addictions concerns attend these services. The programs Youth Facility (NSYF). SCU also
impacting the health and recovery at AIS focus on evidence based serves as an inpatient rehabilitation
of hospitalized children and teens. interventions to best meet the needs unit for treatment of youth with
Consultations may include diagnostic of the youth and family, including mental illness deemed not criminally
assessment and clarification and the Connect model for parents, responsible (NCR) in a court of law.
treatment suggestions. Referrals harm reduction model for concurrent The multidisciplinary team consists of
or transition of care to other disorder, and trauma informed a psychiatrist, registered and licensed
services within the mental health treatments. Youth at AIS participate nurses, psychologists, social workers,
and addictions program may occur in individual, group, and family youth care workers, and a consultant

76 DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHIATRY