UNIVERSITY OF GUELPH-HUMBER
Collaborative research for mental health crisis response can save lives, features UofGH instructor's work

When people are experiencing a mental health crisis, first responders are called to provide support, and depending on the circumstances, they might even have to save a life. However, responding to these crises can be incredibly complex, requiring specialized knowledge and training to ensure the best outcomes. 

To enhance education and response efforts for emergency services like paramedics, 911 dispatchers, police, and hospital emergency department personnel, a group of academics is collaborating to conduct groundbreaking, life-saving research about mental health crisis response. Among them is Danielle Pomeroy, a Community Social Services (CSS) instructor with the University of Guelph-Humber (UofGH).

Pomeroy is a co-investigator on the project, working alongside Humber Polytechnic principal investigator Dr. Polly Ford-Jones and co-investigator Sheryl Thompson. The team also includes research assistants from Humber Polytechnic, and academics from York University and the University of Calgary. The research project is called "Developing a Best Practice Model for Mental Health Crisis Care: A Community-Engaged Approach."

"This is the underpinning of everything," Pomeroy said. "You can't talk about mental health and addictions, you can't talk about crisis intervention without talking about what is happening in the community around us now. These are conversations we have to be having in the classroom."

This research is pertinent to the CSS program at UofGH because students are taught about mental health in the context of supporting impactful social services. Self-care is also instilled throughout students' courses to equip them to deal with stressful crisis situations. In fact, CSS students can complete the Mental Health Commission of Canada's Mental Health First Aid Certification.

The main goal of the research, which received funding in 2021 from the NSERC College and Community Social Innovation Fund (CCSIF), is to develop a framework about how crisis care should be approached, especially with vulnerable communities who are disproportionately impacted, like Black and Indigenous communities, the LGBTQ+ community, people of lower socioeconomic status, and others. The team aims to develop policy recommendations that support crisis prevention and response, leveraging their findings to inform training in those fields to bridge the gap. Pomeroy said these are conversations the team is ensuring are happening in their classrooms, including at UofGH. 

Dr. Ford-Jones emphasized the importance of having an interdisciplinary research team because of the different perspectives each member brings, but also the need to collaborate with communities and those with lived experiences. Engaging the right people has been important for this research, Thompson added. This is why the team partnered with TAIBU Community Health Centre (a space for Black-identifying patients to access healthcare in a culturally affirming environment), as well Middlesex-London Paramedic Service (a paramedic lens) to develop a best practice model for response to mental health crisis care. 

"We're including and engaging with a real range of services and sectors. We're hoping it can have impact in different ways because crisis care is coming from a lot of different spaces and in different ways," Dr. Ford-Jones said.

Left to right: Dr. Polly Ford-Jones, Sheryl Thompson, Danielle Pomeroy

The group, including UofGH's Pomeroy, had the opportunity to present their research at Paramedicine Across Canada Expo's EMS Research Day in Halifax in September, where they won an award: the Dr. Ron Stewart EMS Research Award for the Most Significant Research in EMS Conducted by a Paramedic, granted by the Dalhousie Department of Emergency Medicine. Next, the team will present at the North American Conference on Integrated Care 2024 in Calgary later this month.

"We have students in our classroom who may be experiencing or have experienced their own mental health journeys. So these conversations are imperative," Pomeroy urged. 

The project is now in its final year, but the work won't end here; this knowledge will be shared and implemented to improve our mental health crisis care system and potentially save lives.

To learn more about Developing a Best Practice Model for Mental Health Crisis Care: A Community-Engaged Approach, click here.