WSIB First Responder Mental Health Pilot Program
The Workplace Safety and Insurance Board’s (WSIB) First Responder Mental Health Pilot Specialty Program is an interdisciplinary program based on a stepped model of care, designed to provide effective and evidence-based care to Ontario’s First Responders. The program is offered through Insight Health Solutions (IHS) as well as our partners:
- EHN Bellwood/Gateway Recovery Centre
- Woodstock General Hospital
- Wounded Warriors
In any given year, over 1,200 First Responders with occupational stress injuries access mental health services within WSIB’s health care continuum. First Responders have access to this program tailored to their specific mental health, occupation and workplace culture needs.
The goals of the program are to address the mental health impairments that are an impediment to return to work and function through stepped care that includes triage, assessment, residential care (where appropriate), outpatient rehabilitation, aftercare and residential psychoeducational group activities with other First Responders.
This First Responder Specialty Program provides assessment and treatment services for First Responder workers who are struggling with their emotional well-being. A first-of-its-kind in the province, this pilot program delivers an innovative evidence-based mental health program that includes outpatient and residential treatment, provided by an interdisciplinary team of clinicians. All programming is specifically tailored to First Responders and can be accessed through virtual care or in person through a referral by the WSIB.
