Children, young people and families deserve timely access to the best care experiences and a system that is easy to navigate. We not only practise quality improvement (QI) as an organization, but we also actively work to bolster our sector’s QI knowledge and skills, to improve mental health services and outcomes across the province.

Why quality improvement matters

QI is about striving to do better by improving the efficiency and effectiveness of activities and processes (like reducing wait times or eliminating barriers to services). Practising QI helps to quickly identify and respond to our sector’s evolving needs and to always innovate, evolve and enhance programs and services.

Leading the Quest for quality improvement

In 2020, we launched the Quest cohort program, our child and youth mental health and addictions (CYMHA) - tailored quality improvement program. We offer group learning based on Lean Six Sigma methodology and coach participating organizations through QI projects centred on system-level priorities.

Our Quest cohort 4 applications are now closed and the new cohort will be starting in June!

See our Quest cohort program page to learn more.

Why make process improvements and join the program?

QI is a systematic approach using robust tools and techniques to make changes and improve outcomes for the client, family, service provider or system. Frameworks such as Lean Six Sigma enables us to take a collaborative and methodical approach to examine organizational processes in detail, and optimize and ensure value for stakeholders, including children, young people, families, and service providers.  

QI projects may include clinical issues, such as intake, waitlists, discharge and integrated services between care providers (primary care, educational settings, hospitals and community mental health centres). They may also include more internal-facing issues related to finances, human resources or other administrative processes that impact the services agencies deliver to their clients. 

Some examples include:  

  • An agency receives feedback from their clients and staff that their intake process is confusing and difficult to navigate. The agency would like to streamline their processes and increase efficiencies.  

  • Data from an agency reveals clients remain in brief services for more than two years instead of being discharged or transferred as intended.  

  • Staff who travel to see clients note that it takes a considerable amount of time to sort through the process of submitting travel documentation to finance, for reimbursements. 

  • The human resource (HR) department has noticed a high turnover rate over the years and finds it challenging to recruit qualified candidates. The team would like to improve their overall processes and culture to retain staff and recruit efficiently and effectively.  

  • An agency struggles to meet their direct service hour targets and does not understand how these targets were set. They set out to increase their understanding of what goes into all clinician hours so they can set achievable targets and facilitate staff meeting these targets.