Alberta Heath Services is expanding its mental health phone resources.

Access Mental Health, a branch of Health Link, was originally available only to those living in Calgary but it is now accessible for those living outside of the city in communities like Okotoks, High River, and Strathmore.

Those who use the service will speak with a program clinician.

Debbie Molloy, Manager of Access Mental Health for AHS, says the non-urgent service allows callers to speak with a program clinician who will guide them to the appropriate mental health and addiction resources.

"We're looking at a wide variety of resources and supports. We have about 1,500 of them in a database we have live access to at any given time, so it's really going to depend on what the need of the client is," she explains. "So, if it's someone looking for counselling we'll talk to them about community based counselling options."

Molloy says this will help cater to the increase in demand for mental health resources.

"I think that the need always existed and overall the need for addiction mental concerns has certainly increased over time. What we decided to do was really to have this one service that anyone can access in Calgary and surrounding areas versus having two different numbers and two different systems depending on whether folks lived in or outside of the Calgary."

Residents living outside of Calgary can reach Access Mental Health toll-free at 1-844-943-1500.

The service is available from 8 a.m.- 5 p.m. on weekdays.

 

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