The Minister responsible for Social Services, Lionel Carmant, was in Gatineau Monday afternoon to inaugurate the first Open Area in Outaouais. The program, already implemented in several regions of Quebec, aims to provide young people aged 12 to 25 with mental and physical health services that are adapted to them.
“I think we have to say it, there have been major challenges for the mental health of our young people since the years of the pandemic,” declared Mr. Carmant. According to a survey carried out when the project was set up and to which around 1,000 people responded, including more than 600 young people, stress and anxiety are the main reasons why 12 to 25 year olds seek support.
The Gatineau Open Area currently has five professionals, including a sexologist — a “key element in the service offering,” believes the minister. “It’s really very, very important, with what we’re experiencing in terms of gender dysphoria, questions about the sexuality of our young people. »
The sexologist at Aire Ouvert, Élodie Thibault, says she receives young people who lack self-confidence or self-esteem, or who are looking for help at “the relational level, whether at the family or marital level”. Others have questions about their sexual orientation or gender.
Young people will also be able to consult a specialist nurse practitioner (IPS). “We are the only Open Area that has managed to have the collaboration of an IPS,” rejoices the deputy director of youth programs at the CISSS de l’Outaouais (CISSSO), Caroline Veilleux. “She can go further than a baccalaureate nurse in her activities,” she adds, particularly with regard to screening for sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections and certain mental health disorders.
Those who feel the need can go, with or without an appointment, to the Aire Ouvert premises, located on Boulevard Saint-Raymond. Help can also be received by telephone or virtually, according to “a flexible schedule”, we can read on the program’s website, which will allow “over time [de] see a reduction in waiting lists for youth mental health,” assures Mr. Carmant.
“In my 40 years of management in the health and social services network, I spent 22 years working with young people. […] And this is the first time that we have succeeded in filling a void,” greeted the interim CEO of CISSSO, Yves St-Onge. Even before the inauguration of the premises, 300 young people have already used the services offered by the Open Area since May, he added.
In the morning, in Kirkland, in the west of Montreal, where he participated in the inauguration of another Open Area, Minister Carmant declared that he was “in accelerated mode” to open these centers throughout Quebec. He also mentioned the possibility of creating a second Open Area in Outaouais.
“The needs are there,” declared Hull MP Suzanne Tremblay on this subject, saying that a significant number of young people do not “know where to find a resource to address their concerns.” “I experienced it on the ground as a teacher. »
“What’s missing is that when a young person raises their hand, how do we make the connection with the network? Then wherever we have opened Open Areas, it is the stakeholders who manage to make this connection, to pick up young people from schools and bring them to services,” notes Mr. Carmant.
“By young people and for young people”
Every detail of the Open Area, from the color of the walls to the type of speakers and their schedule, was thought out by young people. “We are involved at all levels,” says Jacob Saumure, who is one of these “young partners”.
For example, it took three meetings to choose the name of the building’s toilets, before opting for “individual toilet”. The room, spacious, combines toilets and bathtubs in the same room, to allow young people to wash in complete discretion. Feminine hygiene products and condoms are also available.
Some “young partners” have encountered barriers themselves when trying to access mental health services through traditional channels. Alexandrine Cardinal, who now works in accounting, has already tried to have “access to a psychologist or group therapy” via the CISSSO, but regrets not having heard from her since last January. “That’s what the fun with Open Area: it’s now. Do you need help now? Good, you’re going to have help now. »
In high school, Solène Simard did not continue her efforts to consult a psychologist, because she “really didn’t like the structure” in place. “I found it too official, then also the prejudice that my parents had a little, of going to see a psychologist […] When we walk in here, it looks like an apartment, it looks like we’re coming to see our friends. It’s free, it’s accessible, and that’s really what I would have liked to have. »
The questionnaire sent ahead of the project also allowed those responsible to determine the location of the premises so that they were as accessible as possible – and close to the schools -, says clinical coordinator Josianne Nantel.
“Each region has an open area, but tailored to the needs of young people,” summarizes Mme Veilleux. “As someone who has been in the youth network for so long, we have often decided for young people what their good is. Here, it was the opposite. They said: “We will explain to you what we want”,” underlines Yves St-Onge.
This report is supported by the Local Journalism Initiative, funded by the Government of Canada.