The majority of the people that SHARP has served over the past 30 years have presented increasingly complex mental health conditions. Due to the organization's reputation for providing low-barrier, non-judgmental model of care SHARP has been asked to support people that have not succeeded in other community programming. SHARP has been successful in keeping people housed, maintain their prescribed medication regimen, food security, active living programming and attending medical/justice appointments however has had difficulty connecting residents to the appropriate mental health practitioners in a timely manner and keeping them engaged. In some cases residents will wait months or longer to have an appointment and in the meantime engage in behaviours that risk their housing and health. Once the connection has been made it sometimes as easy as a medication that can help stabilize a resident's mental health. This initiative will provide internal mental health expertise to help the resident and the staff until a viable, long-term connection to community services and programs can be made. This may include developing in-house therapeutic programs like art and music therapy.
There are a variety of mental health services in Calgary however access to these services may take a long time which leaves staff guessing as to how to best support the resident until a diagnosis is made. Due to the trauma and stigma/discrimination that most of
SHARP's residents have experienced (or experience) it is difficult for them to build sufficient trust to access external supports therefore there is a need to increase the internal supports and programs until the links can be facilitated. The intent is not to duplicate services but to build client resiliency and then have them engage in the most appropriate supports available to increase likelihood of success.
This initiative is also intended to collaborate more effectively within the mental health and addictions serving sector to identify the most effective supports and programming for the people SHARP serves, as well as, the gaps in therapeutic options. With our community partners this initiative will investigate how best to address the gaps in the sector.and if necessary develop and implement new programs. Although not specifically a mental health disorder this initiative will help SHARP increase its capacity to serve people experiencing dementia. SHARP is anticipating a significant demand for services to support people aging with HIV, of which many who were diagnosed in the late
1980s or early 1990s and will have some level of HIV-related dementia. This demand will be due to the concerns of discrimination and stigma that many people living with HIV have about accessing seniors-serving organizations and other patrons of those services. SHARP is currently developing eLearning on this topic with its partners Centre for Sexuality, Calgary Outlink, Alberta Health Services, Calgary Housing Company and HIV Community Link, to inform front-line supports and policy makers in the seniors serving sector. The mental health therapist/specialist will inform this training.
