Early intervention is essential for the care of mental health concerns. This is why the Airdrie Health Foundation committed to fundraising $60,000 to facilitate the AHS/RCMP Airdrie Mental Health Liaison Team. 

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"This kind of program is extremely important for the health of the community," Connie Korpan

 

Alberta Health Services (AHS) and the RCMP recognize the importance and effectiveness of working jointly to assist and serve persons experiencing mental health crises in Airdrie. This partnership proactively provided an integrated response to individuals and their families facing a mental health crisis with the goal to divert them away from the criminal justice system and into mental health treatment or community services that address the underlying cause of their presenting behavior(s).

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Proven Success

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Grande Prairie launched their crisis response unit in 2015 and studies show that for every dollar put into the program $2.40 is returned. The liaison teams de-escalate about 60 per cent of the situations they respond to which prevents these patients from being taken to hospital or the cells at the RCMP detachment.

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"This kind of program is extremely important for the health of the community," said Connie Korpan, principal investigator for the research study "They're not just helping the individual involved, they're also helping the community at large through not (unnecessarily) tapping into resources, making it a safer community, making it a more healthy community."