Lutherwood Shares Knowledge and Experience with Newfoundland and Labrador

WATERLOO - Today, Lutherwood’s Children’s Mental Health Centre welcomed nine staff from two new children’s mental health live-in centres in Newfoundland and Labrador for a three-day experiential training opportunity. These centres will be operated by Eastern Health and Central Health; two Regional Health Authorities in the province.

The Government of Newfoundland and Labrador will be opening two live-in mental health treatment centres for youth: one centre focused on addictions (Central) and the other on mental health (Eastern). As these are the first of their kind in the province, their government is sending managers, clinicians, youth workers, a nurse practitioner and an administrator from both facilities to Lutherwood to experience day-to-day, hands-on operations of live-in and day treatment programs. At a later date, staff from Lutherwood will visit both facilities in Newfoundland and Labrador to mentor and offer further training and support.

“We are very fortunate to have a wealth of knowledge and best practices that have been developed through 43 years of helping youth struggling with mental health issues,” said Dr. John Colangeli, Chief Executive Officer of Lutherwood. “As a result of Kids’ Health Links Foundation’s support, we are able to offer this staff training exchange to give our Newfoundland and Labrador friends the very best start possible as they open their doors to the same highly complex kids we support.”

“Sharing expert knowledge in mental health and well being of children and youth has been a passionate focus of our Foundation since I first visited Lutherwood in 2009,” said Basile Papaevangelou, Founder and Chairman, Kids’ Health Links Foundation. “We will continue our work, until we reach the entire community of practice, in this field, across Canada.”

Through the training exchange, Newfoundland and Labrador staff will gain operational and programming experience by job shadowing Lutherwood staff. Their hands-on training will include examining:
• interviews with youth and families, the assessment tools used, and how treatment goals are established and monitored;
• how risk assessment is incorporated into practices;
• the medical needs of youth and the system for tracking and administrating medication;
• how to problem solve operational issues;
• and policies, procedures, best practices and innovative approaches.

“We are very excited to be opening two children’s mental health live-in treatment centres for youth,” said Susan MacLeod, Program Manager for the Youth Treatment Centre at Eastern Health. “This is an excellent opportunity to learn from Lutherwood and build a collaborative relationship that will help both our organizations serve the needs of our youth.”

Lutherwood is a not-for-profit health and social service organization that supports youth with mental health issues, workers looking for employment, people at risk of being homeless and families in need of counselling. Its services are accessed by more than 22,500 people annually in Waterloo Region and Wellington County.

Media Contact
Chris Sellers
Manager, Communications & Public Relations
Lutherwood
519-707-1958 ext. 1237