As Measurement-Based Care (MBC) adoption continues to expand across North America, there is growing evidence to support the value and quality of collaborative MBC implementations, encompassing entire networks, provinces, or statewide associations. When various organizations within a network have the opportunity to share learnings, set benchmarks, and work through challenges as a collective, the overall impact of MBC is significantly strengthened.
Our partners at Family Service Ontario (FSO) have demonstrated exactly how they can work together to improve care quality across the province. FSO is a network of community-based social services agencies across Ontario. Beyond the implementation of MBC, they collaborate to encourage shared learning and leadership development across their 42 member agencies—serving more than 250,000 Ontarians annually.
Through their network’s implementation of MBC, Family Service Ontario has taken a few major steps to improve adoption and support across their member agencies. Below are three examples of how FSO is driving a successful collaborative implementation:
1. Education: In addition to using our MBC platform for themselves, Family Services of Peel has partnered with Greenspace to make their trauma screening tool (FSP-TS) available to all FSO agencies. The organization has developed trauma screening training modules, which they now offer to all FSO agencies and other service organizations, enabling them to effectively use this tool to better serve their communities.
The FSP-TS assessment asks respondents if they’ve had any traumatic experiences and if/how often they’re currently being impacted by those experiences. The screener also explores what kind of support or coping mechanisms they’ve accessed, their current relationship with those involved, and the potential relationship to grief.
By adding this tool to Greenspace and offering easily accessible training, Family Services of Peel is facilitating the use of this tool across any organization using the platform that may be engaged in trauma-based services. Not only is it easier for clinicians to assign the assessment, clients can complete it from any device in or outside of session. With the training and education offered by Family Services of Peel, all network agencies will be better equipped to support their clients and leverage the insights from FSP-TS outcome data. This represents only one example of the ways that FSO organizations are working to uplift each other to improve outcomes across Ontario.
2. Collaboration: As part of the coordinated MBC project, FSO agency members have been meeting regularly to discuss their implementations and share successes or challenges they might be facing. These meetings provide an opportunity for members to learn from each other and, based on shared learnings, refine their approach. This has included modifying measures to fit their unique programs and populations, strategies for managing change, and how care teams review outcome data to inform service delivery, drive clinician engagement, and buy-in. For instance, the agencies have collaborated on the assessments they’re using, while also comparing the value of various unique and tailored assessments across their programs. This form of collaboration is invaluable when launching an MBC implementation as there is so much knowledge and learnings to be gained from collective trial and error.
3. Resources: Another FSO agency, Willowbridge Community Services, has received government funding to support their own MBC implementation, which includes a digital integration between Greenspace and their eReferral software (Caredove). This integration will not only enhance functionality and synchronicity for Willowbridge administrative staff, clients, and clinicians but can also be adopted by other FSO agencies once the initial integration is established. This is another key benefit of implementing MBC within a shared network or implementation project; clinics are able to share resources or tools that they’ve discovered or built with their peers, to ensure that everyone achieves success and the overall population served can thrive.
It has been a pleasure working with Family Service Ontario to support the implementation of MBC across their members. We are excited to see how their use of MBC evolves as they continue to work together to enhance the quality of mental health services across Ontario. If you’re interested in learning about the value of MBC and collaborative implementations, book a call or reach out anytime at info@greenspacehealth.com to talk to one of our implementation experts.
