Adult Mental Health Services & Resources

Complex Care Housing is part of the Ministry of Mental Health and Addictions’ initiative to support people at risk of or experiencing homelessness. The Complex Care Program supports people who face significant mental health and substance use and/or medical challenges that result in difficulty finding and maintaining a home.

This is a new service, with initial locations launched in Kamloops and Kelowna in early 2023.

More information on complex care homes:

• It's housing that provides ongoing care through a variety of health services and supports, all within a home environment
• Complex care homes are located in neighbourhoods close to amenities and offer ordinary living environments that have been shown to support personal success
• Complex care housing has 24/7 staff who get to know individuals and their needs so they can support them with comprehensive, person-centred care
• Individuals living in this home will be encouraged to be good neighbours and staff will work with them to maintain those expectations
• To learn more, visit the Government of BC webpage

If you or someone you know is at risk or showing signs of a mental health concern, these resources and services may help.

• Our help lines fact sheet contains links to trustworthy help lines to support and guide you to other resources
• Our mobile apps/virtual treatment fact sheet is a list of virtual supports that can be accessed through an internet connected device
• Our Adult Health Care page contains information such as advance care planning, fall and injury prevention, immunization and tobacco reduction
• Wellness Together Canada provides free resources for mental health and substance use support
• Visit Wellbeing BC, British Columbia’s official resource for mental health and substance use support

If you or someone you know is experiencing an mental health crisis, these services may be available in your community:

• Crisis response
• Substance use connections
• Integrated Crisis Response Teams respond to mental health or substance use emergencies in Kamloops, Vernon, Kelowna and Penticton. Our MHSU clinicians are partnered with a specially trained RCMP officer to help connect you to the services you need to keep you safe.

Counselling helps! We offer the following short-term community counselling services if you’re experiencing moderate to severe mental health problems.

• Counselling & treatment services
• Group counselling & education
• Perinatal counselling services
• Indigenous Patient Navigator Services (IPN)-MHSU

If you need ongoing illness management, and/or support and recovery services for a serious and persistent mental illness, we offer:

• Intensive case management
• Assertive community treatment
• Treatment, support & recovery
• Indigenous Patient Navigator Services (IPN)-MHSU

You can get an assessment and counselling and treatment services if you have a specific moderate to severe mental health disorder. We can refer you to:

• Seniors mental health & substance use services
• Early psychosis intervention
• Eating disorders treatment services
• Developmental disability mental health services
• Indigenous Patient Navigator Services (IPN)-MHSU

Inpatient psychiatry units provide personalized care that is focussed on recovery, empowering people and building a sense of hope. The team provides medication management, education and recreational programs and supports for discharge planning to help you and your family feel confident in your recovery journey.

• Acute inpatient psychiatry services
• Acute psychiatry short stay
• General psychiatry services

Tertiary psychiatric services are specialized mental health services designed for people with severe mental illness who have not responded to other treatment and have had difficulty managing their illness and living in the community. The goal of these programs is to provide treatment and rehabilitation in a flexible and interactive community setting, followed by return to their home community as soon as possible. Admission to these programs is by referral only.

• Neuropsychiatry
• Psychiatric intensive care
• Adult psychiatry assessment and treatment
• Adult tertiary rehabilitation
• Older adult assessment and treatment
• Older adult long-term tertiary rehabilitation

If you’re affected by mental illness, or if you are a caregiver, our survival kit may help you better understand and cope with it.

• Major mental illnesses signs and symptoms
• What is happening to me? Answers to questions about my journey with a mental illness
• Roles of mental health professionals 
• Asking questions: questions to ask preparing and meeting with your mental health care professional
• Your right as a person with mental illness 
• What is happening to my loved one? 
• Understanding and coping with mental illness for family and friends 
• Patient Information Guide about Passes from Inpatient Psychiatry Units 
• Planning your recovery 
• After hospital discharge: on to recovery for people with mental illness
• Caregiver resources

• First Nations Health Authority MHSU culturally safe and trauma informed resources including crisis lines, suicide prevention and residential school survivor supports.
• Mental Wellness supports during an extraordinary event

Mindfulness means living in the present moment and being intentionally more focused on what is happening in your surroundings – without judgement. Find mindfulness exercises for seniors:

• Meditation 
• Deep Breathing
• Music
• Cleaning the House
• Observing Your Thoughts 
• Taking a Walk
• Mindful Eating
• Create Your Own