Heat Resilience in Community Psychiatry: How can we prevent heat related illness in people with Severe & Persistent Mental Illness?

About

Assertive Community Treatment Teams (ACTT), Flexible ACT (FACT), and Intensive Case Management (ICM) are multidisciplinary teams that provide treatment and support services to individuals diagnosed with a Severe and Persistent Mental Illness (SPMI) who have had multiple psychiatric hospitalizations. This same population is three times more likely to die from extreme heat events than the general population.

A team of clinicians and researchers conducted a pilot study on the impact of an educationbased quality improvement project to reduce heat-related morbidity and mortality among people living with SPMI in Toronto. The pilot provided ACTT, FACT, ICM, and housing teams with brief educational presentations on how to recognize the signs and symptoms of heat-related illness in their clients, and interventions to reduce harm, as well as heat outreach toolkits.

Lead(s)

Samantha Green

Family Physician, Unity Health Toronto and Inner City Health Associates Assistant Professor, Department of Family & Community Medicine

Sarah E. Levitt

Staff Psychiatrist, Centre for Mental Health, University Health Network
Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto

Daniel Rosenbaum

Psychiatrist, Clinician Investigator Centre for Mental Health, University Health Network