The new standard was developed with several goals in mind. The first is to guide those who implement services, programs, education, training, policies, procedures, and practices in a way that fosters better support for people living with mental health disorders in LTC settings while reducing the risk of people without these disorders developing them.
They also aim to address the physical environmental considerations that are geared toward the promotion of improving mental health and well-being and provide person-centred care that is inclusive of all people living in assisted living or LTC facilities.
Those developing and implementing the standard across the country want people to look at mental health in these facilities as a continuum rather than a black-or-white situation.
“In this standard, we see mental health existing along a continuum. So, there’s a dated view of mental health as either you have a mental health condition or you don’t, and we do not see it that way,” said Dr. Kirkham.
“We see this as mental health on a continuum, so everyone is at risk of a mental health condition. Obviously, people who have historically had a problem are at higher risk, but particularly in long-term care and assisted living, this represents a time of very high risk for mental health conditions or symptoms for everybody who’s living there.”