ED visits for mental and substance use health concerns in young adults has risen at alarming rates in the past two decades, and in response, SREMI developed and launched the RBC Pathway to Peers (P2P) program at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto.

This innovative initiative supports young adults (16-29) navigating mental and substance use health challenges by integrating peer supporters with lived experience into the clinical ED team who provide essential emotional support, advocacy, and assistance in navigating the health care system. After five years, and over 8000 successful patient encounters at Mount Sinai Hospital, the program has recently expanded to Michael Garron Hospital. This presentation will outline the implementation of the P2P program, successful contributing factors and strategies used to ensure seamless integration into the ED workflow including evaluation, and outcomes to date. In addition, it will discuss program expansion navigation, and key challenges faced in program duplication.

Learning Objectives

1. Participants will be able to distinguish between a peer support role and a clinical role and explain how a peer role adds value to the ED experience for young adults presenting with mental and/or substance use health challenges.

2. Participants will be able to identify predictable challenges and key success factors to implementing a youth mental/substance use health peer support program in an ED.  

3. Participants will be able to identify the program’s ability to expand in the context of their home communities.