The ABC Team in mental health, which provides rapid interventions to help people in crisis, has been honoured with the Ella Amir Award for Innovations in Mental Health from AMI-Québec. Congratulations to the team!
The award, which recognizes the ABC Team’s innovative approach in building awareness of mental health issues, was presented June 17 by AMI-Québec, a non-profit organization that helps families manage the effects of mental illness.
“It’s a great honour to receive this prize,” says Nathalie Lefrançois, Manager of the ABC Team, which is part of our CIUSSS’s Directorate of Mental Health and Addiction Programs. “This is recognition for the team and all the work they’ve done, every day, to provide quality services. I’m very proud.”
The mission of the ABC Team (for Accompagnement bref dans la communauté, or Short-Term Community Assistance), is to ensure that anyone in a mental health crisis receives rapid service—within 24 to 48 hours—to help resolve the problem. The goal is to offer an alternative to hospitalization while involving friends and family, creating a safety net and providing follow-up with other services.
“We try to be as agile and available as possible according to the needs of our users and their loved ones,” says Laurence Benoit-Dubé, Associate Director of Mental Health and Addiction Programs with responsibility for alternatives to hospitalization and rehabilitation in the community. “Sometimes we have to adapt and think outside the box to achieve this goal,” she adds, “but that’s the great strength of our collaboration between our ABC Team and AMI-Québec.”
The ABC Team of CIUSSS West-Central Montreal consists of eight clinicians, including nurses, human relations agents, an occupational therapist and clinical activities specialist. Since the team’s creation in September, 2023, the staff has helped nearly 550 people.
In selecting the team for its award, AMI-Québec said it has provided vital support to those who don’t require hospitalization but still need structured follow-ups within their community. AMI-Québec also underscored its collaboration with the CIUSSS through the Family Peer Support service, which “reflects the conviction that caregivers are an essential part of the recovery process,” AMI-Québec said.
That support for caregivers contributes significantly to people’s recovery, says Giovanna Cocco, Director of our CIUSSS’s Mental Health and Addiction Programs.
“This experiential knowledge is an added value for our users,” Ms. Cocco says. “Thanks to AMI-Québec, we’re developing this approach in various departments of our directorate.”
AMI-Québec was started in 1977 with the aim of dispelling the stigma around mental illness and creating support networks “that offer new hope for meaningful lives.” Its award was presented at AMI-Québec’s Annual General Meeting, held at the JGH Institute of Community and Family Psychiatry.
