MAX Mental Health Navigation

  Connecting members of Ottawa’s Queer community with counsellors and therapists who can meet the needs of GBTQ2 guys.
  

Created by MAX Ottawa

MAX’s Mental Health Navigation program was born from the reality that living in a heteronormative society creates systems that are not built to respond to the realities of GBT2Q experience - and from the need to remove barriers for members of our community.

Mental Health lies at the core of MAX Ottawa

MAX believes that GBT2Q folks have the right to expect a respectful and timely response to their mental health needs. In response, our organization developed a free mental health navigation service that links gay, bisexual, and guys into guys (including trans men) to appropriate supports - and navigates around barriers to access.

Mental Health Navigation builds the capacity of GBT2Q individuals to care for themselves - connecting them with appropriate mental health supports. Psychotherapy and other mental health interventions are at their most effective when clients feel completely safe to be open and honest (not always possible when we have to monitor how much we can share without judgement, or if a part of the experience will require educating the counsellor on GBT2Q experiences and realities).

By connecting participants with service providers who have demonstrated experience with the LGBTQ2+ community, MAX helps individuals focus on their mental health journeys.

MAX’s long-term goal is to become a community health hub capable of offering counselling services, therapy, and ongoing individual support internally.

How does MAX Mental Health Navigation work?

MAX helps community members navigate mental health services and find GBTQ2 affirming professionals using a three-step approach.

What does this look like?

Intake – MAX’s Health Navigator meets with individuals to discuss their needs and explore their best options
Referral – MAX’s Health Navigator provides community members with a list of referrals that suit individual goals and financial needs. Currently MAX can refer to psychologists, social workers, and other forms of psychotherapy.
Follow-Up – At the two-week and three month-marks, MAX’s Health Navigator checks in to ensure community members are receiving the support they need. The Health Navigator can offer additional referrals or explore other options at that time.

In-person navigation is conducted at MAX Ottawa offices in Centretown. Our organization has a comfortable, safe space with easy chairs for these sessions.

When social distancing is required, Mental Health Navigation runs virtually - with people making appointments via email and conducting intake and information sessions on the phone or over Zoom.

Recruitment & Resources

As a free, public-facing service, Mental Health Navigation is founded on two core functions: 1) reaching its core population of underserved GBT2Q-identifying community members and 2) connecting individuals with appropriate mental health resources.

In large part, MAX’s target audience of guys who like guys are introduced to the service through its website’s mental health navigation portal. The organization also leverages social media platforms (with a strategic emphasis on Instagram) to foster greater community awareness - while also promoting through community mental health and harm reduction programs.

Mental Health Navigation is funded through MAX’s core programming budget, with a 0.6 FTE navigator position budgeted at $30k annually. This role can be blended with other functions to warrant full-time employment, with active listening skills training available on an ongoing basis. Material resources for this position include a laptop, printer and internet access.

To date, volunteers have not been utilized due to the program’s confidential nature and privacy limitations. While the navigator was initially supervised by the Executive Director, leadership was transitioned to the Community Programs Manager within its first year.

Future Direction

The program has explored expanding its scope to include general practitioners (GP’s). With family doctors or GP’s often acting as a first point of contact for many individuals regarding their mental health (through preliminary diagnosis and referral), having a doctor who is knowledgeable about the nuances of GBT2Q life helps facilitate these interactions.

MAX Mental Health Navigation has been partnering with Capital Rainbow Refuge to improve access to mental health services among newcomers to Canada (particularly GBT2Q refugees). This partnership’s aim is to share learnings, including which care providers have experience working with trauma or BIPOC populations, programs that can help GBT2Q refugees access mental health services, and ways refugees can advocate for themselves.

Mental Health Navigation has acted as a pilot for other community services and will continue to contribute to systems that can respond to the needs of GBT2Q individuals.

Challenges

The program’s greatest barrier is identifying queer-competent mental health professionals in Ottawa on an ongoing basis. As such, long waiting lists are common and exacerbated by the pandemic - increasing the acute need for services.

MAX plans to develop the service into a formalized navigation pathway with established community partners - who agree to see referrals within days, rather than weeks or months.

Successes

According to MAX’s Mental Health Needs Assessment, 77% of respondents feel that Mental Health Navigation fills an identified service gap in Ottawa. Highlights of these responses include:

  Our community has some unique concerns and needs that health care professionals outside our community do not necessarily understand - we live these realities, something people not in our community do not.
  
    Men are underserved in the area of mental health, and queer men are particularly vulnerable due to homophobia/transphobia
  
    I feel that they fill a service gap for GBT2Q guys as there aren't many other organizations like MAX who offer such a broad range of services that fills needs for many different subgroups within the GBT2Q male (cis, trans, non-binary, etc.) community in the Capital Region.