Petra Meijer is a paramedic student at Humber College. She comes from a career in environmental management and has experience in community-based research and projects in different countries. Petra is using that experience to conduct research on how community experiences can inform best practices in Ontario for mental health emergency care.
Developing a best practice model for mental health crisis care: A community engaged approach
Recipient of the 2021 MHRC-Mitacs Mental Health Impact Studentship for College Students, Petra Meijer is a paramedic student at Humber College working under the co-supervision Humber’s Dr. Polly Ford-Jones and Superintendent Dustin Carter of the Middlesex London Paramedic Service.
Humber College is one of many Canadian colleges conducting innovative research and we are proud to support them.
Petra’s project will be assessing data from Middlesex London Paramedic Service’s (MLPS) mental health alternate destination program, which has been in place in pilot format for 2 years. The program is the first formally established and approved program in Ontario to provide an option for paramedics on the scene of an emergency call the ability to directly transport the person in crisis to a destination where they connect directly with mental health practitioners (i.e.: social workers, counsellors) rather than being transported to an ED. Petra’s work will report on findings including lessons learned by MLPS from the program, recommendations for other paramedic services considering implementation of such a program, demonstration of the value added of such programming, and consideration of other ways to support such a framework.
Petra’s findings will incorporate findings into a larger multidisplicinary project that aims to address develop a best practice model for providing high-quality support to individuals in need of emergency mental health support.