Supporting patient mental health during COVID-19
Aman Hansra (Rx2012) is a pharmacist at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) in downtown Toronto. Before COVID-19, a normal day for her meant supporting patients in the facility’s high-risk schizophrenia unit, where she’s the inpatient pharmacist. The unit has 25 beds. Days begin with a huddle where the team goes over expectations, updates on patients and red-flags related to safety.
“We serve a wide variety of patients here, but often we see people from lower socio-economic status — those without community support who have been bounced around from boarding homes and shelters,” Aman says.
She is also a pharmacist consultant for the Medication Assessment Program for Schizophrenia and provides consultation for patients and health-care providers all over the province.
“We often receive consults where the patient is close to the end of the recommended guidelines for treatment or are resistant to the recommended medications,” she explains. “We have the expertise to help these providers and patients figure out what’s next.”
As leaders in providing mental health support, practitioners at CAMH typically don’t deal with acute medical issues. In the past, patients were transferred to other hospitals in Toronto to receive medical care and then transferred back to CAMH for psychiatric care.
“COVID-19 has changed all of that,” Aman says. “Instead, we’re providing COVID-specific medical care and psychiatric support all in one location. This is to minimize the transfer of patients between hospitals. We’ve altered a unit to use it as a COVID-specific unit and changed our overall service model to include acute medical and palliative care.”
Employees now undergo COVID-19 screening on arrival and wear masks at all times. Patient rounds have shifted online. Aman used to offer a medication education group weekly where clients could learn more about antipsychotics and their other meds. Its just one of several services that have been temporarily postponed to ensure safe physical distancing.
“Initially, it was challenging to keep up with changing rules and research,” she says. “Changes to medication standards have been a challenge, and we’ve done lots of research to keep up with the latest therapeutic findings. Changes to the dispensing and monitoring of methadone, suboxone and clozapine are a few examples of this. These came quickly, but it’s important to react fast to stay ahead of the outbreak.”
Despite the shifts in how and when communication occurs, Aman’s seen her team come together to respond to the pandemic. They work hard to ensure these vulnerable patients consistently have support for their physical and mental health.
Even though we are all doing things differently and not physically together it feels as though CAMH has united as an organization in a way that is unprecedented. The work is emotionally draining, but we continue to collaborate. It’s so important right now that we all practice self-care and be kind to ourselves. Doing so will ensure we continue to practice with empathy.