sarah burtenshaw mental health worker & cit coordinator hamilton, ontario, canada

Sarah BurtenshawMental Health Worker & CIT Coordinator

Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

4 full-time police officers worknwith nurse, social workers and occupational therapists

24/7 crisis line Police/mental health

crisis team 2,000 outreach visits 14,000 phone calls

Hamilton Police Service (15)

Niagara Regional Police Service (15)

Brantford Police Service (3)

Halton Regional Police Service (3)

Norfolk OPP (3)

Ontario Provincial Police provide policing across most of Ontario

30 courses

Identify 10 activities you can include in your CIT to make it more interesting and more understandable

Hallucinations are false sensory perceptions Hearing, seeing, smelling, feeling and

tasting things which aren’t there The more stressed the individual is the

more intense the hallucination will be

3 voice experience

If you stare at the blinking pink dots, you will see only one color, pink. If you look at the + in the center, you'll see a circle of pink dots and a rotating green dot. But, if you stare at the + without moving your eyes, the pink dots will disappear and you will see only a rotating green dot. It's amazing how our brain works. There really is no green dot and the pink ones don't really disappear. This is proof that we don't always see what we think we see.

Fixed false beliefs not in keeping with the person’s cultural or religious beliefs

Focus of the training is to slow officers down

The following exercises illustrate how a person who is paranoid processes information and why it is important to take time when interacting with a person who is psychotic

RED BLUE GREEN YELLOW GREY

PINK YELLOW PURPLE ORANGE BROWN BLACK

GREY GREEN YELLOW PINK

BLUE PURPLE BROWN RED

GREEN

Developed by the Ontario Police Video Tape Alliance

www.opvta.com

“Silver Tsunami”

Understanding the neurology of dementia helps with understanding the impact on a person’s functioning

“Silver Tsunami” with the dramatic increase of dementia cases over the next 20 years with the baby boomers coming of age

The diagnosis of dementia does not mean the individual will immediately have to give up the person’s driver’s licence

The diagnosis does mean the person will eventually have to give up driving

Trail Test A and B

Difficulty initiating/directing body parts to do familiar tasks

Mirror/Star Test

A: Age and Appearance- Appearance of the person and their living

environment

B. Behavior: Describe the unusual behaviors the person

demonstrated

C. Cognition: What were they thinking

D. Danger: Risk to self and others

Video-based training online for officers to complete independently

Different options are offered with reference information provided as the scenarios progress

http://cirt.uoit.ca/LOs/mainMenu/

“Psychosis” DVD – www.opvta.com Video-based learning:

http://cirt.uoit.ca/LOs/mainMenu/

Sarah Burtenshaw:SBurtenshaw@stjoes.ca