An Ontario-based medical research agency has published a detailed report exploring the trends of people seeking mental health treatment in post-COVID Ontario and the differences of mental health services available in Northern Ontario and Southern Ontario.
The research indicated that Northerners seeking mental health treatment cannot access the same level of care that is provided in larger Southern communities.
The report was tabled this month by the Public Advisory Council of ICES, formerly known as the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences. ICES is an independent, non-profit group that does research and gathers data on health trends in Ontario.
The newest report examined trends on how people are seeking mental health services and treatment along with why and where they were seeking help.
The report is titled Mental Health-Related Visits to Doctors and Emergency Departments in Ontario.
In the executive summary, the report said mental health services in Ontario are provided differently, based on where people lived.
"People living in Toronto visited doctors for mental health services more frequently than elsewhere, while those living in Northern Ontario were the most frequent visitors to the emergency department for mental health," said the report.
"Some PAC members speculated that greater reliance on emergency departments (EDs) may be due to a family doctor shortage in the North," the report continued.
The PAC group said the onset of the pandemic saw an initial large and rapid decline in using mental health care services in Ontario, followed by a sustained increase above expected levels. The report said the variation in service use by geographic region, neighbourhood income and other factors were observed pre-pandemic.
Therefore, the chosen analysis question, “What was the most frequent cause for mental health doctor visits (over time)?” was deemed the most important for the group to explore, said the report.
The PAC group said the reasons for mental health doctor visits and trends over time are not frequently reported and would be worthwhile to explore.
The report quoted a 2021 study "Mental Health and Addictions System Performance in Ontario" that outlined how net income and geographic locations played a role in determining those seeking mental health treatment.