Grant: Planning and Dissemination Grant - Institute Community Support

Early Psychosis Intervention (EPI) is a team based treatment model for youth and young adults in the early years of a psychotic illness. EPI is time-limited, intended to help clients stabilize and develop the self care, work and social skills they will need to continue their recovery. Depending on needs and preferences, EPI clients may move on to other mental health treatment teams or to primary care. However, transitioning from EPI can be challenging. Youth and family report feeling surprised and unprepared for discharge. Some worry about starting a new service with providers who are unknown to them. EPI providers also report challenges, including worry that receiving services will not understand how to support their clients. A team at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto recently obtained funding to develop a transition protocol (core steps for transitioning clients to new services and related strategies). The protocol is now complete and ready to be shared. This grant will support that process. Primary audiences will be EPI providers, policy makers and people with lived experience of EPI. The grant team will develop resources to increase awareness of the protocol (video clips, information brochures, briefing notes) and help with implementation (checklist, care pathway), and they will connect with provider, family and youth networks, and policy and planning bodies across the country to present the protocol and promote its use. A more systematic and structured transition process should create a better experience for clients, family and clinicians, and result in more successful transitions to new providers. The proposed work is an important first step for achieving these aims.