Meet 1Call1Click.ca’s Dr. Mario Cappelli

What is your formal title and current position?

I am a child psychologist in practice for 30 years. Since 2018, I have been the Senior Clinician-Scientist at the Knowledge Institute on Child and Youth Mental Health and Addictions and I am the former Director of Mental Health and Psychiatric Research at CHEO. 

Could you please share a bit about your current work?

I am most interested in ensuring that we provide children, youth and young adults with the right type of mental health and addictions services at the right place and the right time in a more integrative way. We want to help families navigate and access services in such an effective, thoughtful and caring way that they end up right where they are supposed to be without having to tell their story 100 times, do a 100 google searches and make 100 phone calls. And lastly, we want to make sure that the various clinicians and agencies providing those services are on the same page so that we are all able to respond to the needs and goals that the child or youth and family have identified as important.

Why have you chosen to work in this area?

When I first started working it was about making it okay for families and youth to seek and get mental health and addiction care. Over time this has changed. As families and young people felt increasing comfortable seeking help, there was increasing need to ensure access to services for someone who has asked for care. And the risks can be high when you fail particularly with more vulnerable youth. We have lost young people because we weren’t able to respond in a meaningful, timely or integrated way. Likewise, if we can’t help at that time of need, the needs can grow and impact more areas of their life. A rewarding piece with children and youth is that if you can intervene early and effectively, you stand a chance in helping them. 

After being in practice for so many years, what noticeable changes or trends are you seeing in the mental health of young Canadians, specifically those living in our region and province? 

First and foremost is the significant increase in a demand for services. We have always known that there are many young people who need services for a variety of different concerns. Society has changed since I started practicing and young people have spoken up and want to be seen. While the prevalence of serious mental illness hasn’t really changed, the number of kids accessing services has changed. 

How do you think the pandemic has affected kids, youth and families? 

The pandemic has had an adverse effect on the mental health of many young people and families. We have seen significant increases in anxiety, depression, emergency room visits, eating disorders and substance use. It has also forced us to recognize that we need to do more to provide care. But providing care has to done using a model based on thoughtful integration so that our youth and families are connected to services seamlessly and effectively. And that is where 1Call1Click.ca comes in – it is a coordinated pathway to care.

How are you involved with 1Call1Click.ca?

I am part of the team that evaluates 1Call1Click.ca. With any new program you want to make sure it is doing the job it says it is going to do. We want to prove that we are doing the right thing and the way we prove it is by collecting information that helps to determine if we are meeting the goals that were set out in the beginning. Our process is very different from traditional research as data is collected in real time and analyzed regularly. The ultimate goal is to adjust and improve the service along the way. It is extremely rewarding to belong to a meaningful table of evaluators including providers, families, youth, community representatives and hospitals.

Why do you give your time and expertise as part of the 1Call1Click.ca team? 

My role at the Knowledge Institute has a provincial lens. I am interested to see if we can bring this service to other communities in Ontario and beyond our borders. 1Call1Click.ca could be a model that potentially works well wherever it is set up.  

Now celebrating its first birthday, what impact do you think 1Call1Click.ca has had on those it serves and the region it supports? 

I think we have come a long way in a year. Perhaps the biggest impact is that children, youth, families and physicians in our communities are able access the right services with less work, worry, and seamlessly since 1Call1Click.ca connects them to right services that meets the needs and goals. 

Has anything surprised you about the reception 1Call1Click.ca has received? Or the need for it?

The need for 1Call1Click.ca is not a surprise but what has surprised me is how much more we are going to need. As we evaluate the program and demonstrate its value, we set an expectation for high quality and continuous improvement.  This is exciting and will keep all of us thinking about what we can do next.

Have you experienced any moving experiences or very satisfying moments stemming from your involvement with 1Call1Click.ca?

What I love is how committed everyone has been to the work that we do. The entire 1Call1Click.ca group gets excited about research and data and is interested in hearing and understanding more. It makes you feel like you are really part of the whole team. 

You have now received a one-year CIHR research grant to study data collected by 1Call1Click.ca. Could you please tell me a bit more about this and what the goal of this research will be?

The CIHR recognized the unique nature of 1Call1Click.ca in its ability to capture a more complete set of data. This data is used to help us understand the number of kids wanting services, their specific needs and the changing severity of those needs over time. By understanding the demands for youth mental health and addictions, we can determine whether we are meeting them.

1CallClick.ca collects data not just from hospital but also from 25 community-based agencies. Until now, we had a jigsaw puzzle of pieces that had never been complete. Now that these 25 pieces have come together, we can see the whole picture. This is very exciting since our understanding the mental health and addiction needs is based on a more complete dataset and will help us to improve care for kids and youth. 

What is your hope for the future of 1Call1Click.ca and how can we best support its growth?

I would like to see further integration with other providers such as school mental health, community health centres, and eventually see 1Call1Click.ca in every community. This will take more than funding and will take an enormous commitment to change and embracing that change. It is like the saying that everyone likes progress but no one likes change. Success will depend not on what we think is important but what our children, youth, and families expect from us.