A new online system is now active to help people across Windsor-Essex navigate all of the mental health and addictions services available to find the one that fits their needs and situation.
Partners of the Windsor-Essex Community Opioid and Substance Strategy, WECOSS, and the Windsor-Essex Ontario Health Team are behind WEC CONNECT.
The online system, which provides an inventory of treatment options for the public, along with community agencies and service providers, so they can refer any patients or clients to the most appropriate programs and services for them based on service area, type of service, mode of delivery, and cost of service.
WECHU Director of Public Health Programs and WECOSS Co-Chair Eric Nadalin says this is a one-stop shop that's easy to navigate.
"People who are looking to access treatment, looking to access support or their family, their caregivers, their loved ones, their friends, their healthcare providers to be able to jump in and say, 'Okay, at a glance, what's out there?' Based on these criteria, we can filter what's out there so it best meets the needs of the person we're looking for," he says.
"Then you'll move through the type of treatment modality that you're looking for. Is it an online service? Is it a phone-based service? Is it group counseling? Is it one-on-one, or is it in person? Then you'll move through different layers of criteria that result in a condensed version of what's actually available to you," he says.
The development of the new service was led by the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit through its coordinating role of the WECOSS, in partnership with Hotel-Dieu Grace Healthcare and the Windsor-Essex Ontario Health Team.
Nadalin says there are 122 programs at the local, provincial, and national scale.
"That can range from anywhere to an online Canada-wide group counseling program to a lone one-on-one withdrawal management service housed by someone like Hotel-Dieu Grace Healthcare. So everything under the sun available to folk in Windsor-Essex is included in it," he says.
Residents are encouraged to visit wecoss.ca/wec_connect to access the online inventory.