The province is working towards achieving a high performing mental health and addictions system. But we need your help to better understand and measure how we are performing and where we all can improve.
As you know, Ontario lacks a standardized, province-wide system of evidence-based performance measurement for our sector. While data exists that seeks to measure performance at a number of levels, it varies widely across the sector and falls short of being able to provide Ontarians with a clear picture of what needs to be improved.
This is why Ontario’s Mental Health and Addictions Leadership Advisory Council, with support from Addictions & Mental Health Ontario, Canadian Mental Health Association Ontario, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences and the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care’s Strategic Policy Branch, has been developing a new data and performance measurement framework. Once completed, the framework will be the new standard by which the performance of the mental health and addictions sector in Ontario can be evaluated.
A task group comprised of experts in health systems data and performance measurement, experts in health and public policy and leaders from mental health and addictions community agencies and hospitals began work on this new framework in the summer of 2015. The task group found that service providers at all levels faced a number of barriers and capacity issues that prevented the collection, sharing and analysis of sector-related data in a meaningful way.
In order to address these problems, two pressing needs for the mental health and addictions sector became apparent:
- The sector needs a logic model to establish a common vision and common understanding around performance measurement, including the collection, analysis and reporting of data.
- The sector needs a scorecard with a common set of performance indicators that are evidenced-based and focused on health outcomes.
Since its inception, the task group has been working to draft the logic model and scorecard of performance indicators; indicators that can be standardized across hospitals and community-based mental health and addictions organizations, and can provide high quality, comparable data.
Now, the task group is asking for your input. Please review the draft logic model and scorecard and consider the following questions:
- What are your general impressions of the logic model and scorecard?
- What are the critical gaps?
- As a service provider, what are the considerations for data collection and reporting?
(i.e. What supports are needed to adequately report on these performance indicators? - What is needed at an agency- regional- and provincial-level?)
As a service user, what information do you want to know about the performance of the
mental health and addictions sector?
(i.e. What do you want to know is working well or not working well about the sector?)
Your feedback on these discussion questions will inform the final logic model and scorecard of performance indicators.
Please send your feedback online by March 31, 2016.
We are also hosting a series of webinars to gather feedback across the mental health and addictions sector. We welcome participation from service providers and service users, including people with lived experience and the consumer/survivor community. The dates of the webinars are as follows, please click on the webinar of your choice to register.
Webinar #1: Consultation with Community StakeholdersThursday, February 18, 1:30 pm-3 pm
Webinar #2: Consultation with Local Health Integration Network (LHIN) Stakeholders
Friday, February 19, 9:30 am-11 am
Webinar #3: Consultation with Hospital Stakeholders
Friday, March 4, 9:30 am-11 am
Once these consultations have taken place and recommendations taken into account, the task group will then present an updated logic model and scorecard to the Mental Health and Addictions Leadership Advisory Council for its approval.
Together, this logic model andscorecard of performance indicators will form a new framework for measuring the performance of the mental health and addictions sector in Ontario and provide the standardized, high quality and comparable data needed to improve the health outcomes of Ontarians.
We look forward to connecting with you on this important initiative.
For more information, contact:
Paul Kurdyak, Core Senior Scientist and Lead, Mental Health and Addictions Research Program, Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences, paul.kurdyak@camh.ca
Sean Court, I/Director, Strategic Policy Branch, Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, sean.court@ontario.ca
Uppala Chandrasekera, Director, Public Policy Canadian Mental Health Association, Ontario, uchandrasekera@ontario.cmha.ca
For more information, please see the communique attached below.