Coastal Mental Health and Substance Use Services' COVID-19 Response: A Quality Improvement Initiative.

ABSTRACT

Health organizations play a pivotal role during pandemic preparedness, response and recovery. During the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, Vancouver Coastal Health, BC, adapted their delivery of mental health and substance use services. Healthcare providers were required to be flexible while continuing to provide patient care. To understand how healthcare providers in the mental health and substance use field experienced the COVID-19 response at their workplace, a quality improvement initiative was designed. This initiative aimed to evaluate their perceptions using an online survey tool that explored their insights related to communication, redeployment and safety and well-being. The survey results aligned with the ADKAR (awareness, desire, knowledge, ability and reinforcement) model of change management, which informed our recommendations to healthcare leaders to support ongoing pandemic response procedures.