Grant: Operating Grant

This project builds on a completed pilot study that was the first step in an investigation of mental health outcomes and cost-effectiveness of an innovative approach to service delivery in a community-based counselling agency. Walk-in counselling clinics offer people a single therapy session without an appointment. Prior studies of similar services suggest most clients are satisfied with the single session and many do not seek additional assistance; however, better designed research is required to answer questions about the helpfulness of this approach. The study will compare outcomes for clients attending a walk-in counselling clinic with those clients requesting counselling from an agency serving a similar population, without a walk-in clinic. It will increase knowledge of the best way to collect information from these clients, which will inform a larger study involving several counselling agencies. The findings will provide estimates of the cost effectiveness of the two models, helping to determine the best use of mental health resources. People attending walk-in counselling are high users of health and community services, and sizeable economic losses are associated with absence from work and inability to continue normal activities. Since wait-lists for traditional counselling can be several months, the results have considerable policy relevance.