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Mood Disorders

Discharge, Resources & Research

What happens when a patient is discharged from the Mood Disorders Program?

When a patient is discharged from the inpatient unit, the discharge planning is coordinated by the unit social worker and involves all members of the treatment team.

Although this will be different for each person, it will generally include collaboration between the patient, the substitute decision-maker (if applicable), family members and community partners. Every effort is made to ensure a safe and sustainable transition from the inpatient setting to the community.

Throughout the time in hospital, each patient's supports and resources are assessed in preparation for discharge. The treatment team focuses on areas such as social supports, housing, finances, vocation and/or employment, leisure activities and daily routine.

Some of these areas may continue to be addressed at the hospital by outpatient staff, provided the patient is being followed by a Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre psychiatrist. Prior to discharge, timely follow-up appointments are scheduled with the treating psychiatrist and other mental health service providers (where applicable).

Discharge from the outpatient program follows a similar process, except that psychiatric care is transitioned back to the referral source, often family physicians or community psychiatrists. Information about community resources is given, and referrals are made where necessary.

Additional Resources to Support Patients & Their Caregivers

  • Family Information and Support Groups - (613) 722-6521 ext. 6421
  • Patient and Family Resource Centre - (613) 722-6521 ext. 6899
  • Consumer and Family Advisory Groups - (613) 722-6521 ext. 6871

Research in the Mood Disorders Program

Research is imperative for increasing our understanding of mental disorders and is essential to continuous improvements in patient care. The Mood Disorders Program is associated with the Research Unit of the University of Ottawa Institute of Mental Health Research.

One of the missions of the Mood Disorders research program is to improve the remission rate of depressed patients and to get them well faster. This research group is unique in Canada because it encompasses fully integrated fundamental and clinical research units. This group is directed by Pierre Blier, MD, PhD who is both a clinician seeing patients on a daily basis and the supervisor of the laboratory carrying out work with animals.

This model represents the best strategy to bridge the laboratory bench to the patient's bedside, thereby providing an ideal environment to facilitate translational research. This endeavor consists of taking observations from the laboratory and applying them directly to patient care.

The clinical research unit is responsible for devising research studies aimed at assessing the biochemical and clinical effects of various antidepressants and new molecules in development.

The most recent studies were aimed at accelerating and improving antidepressant response by using combinations of two medications from treatment initiation in comparison to giving only one medication.

These combinations, while being very well tolerated, have significantly improved the usual remission rate of standard medications within a six week treatment period, thereby saving time, attenuating the burden and suffering of patients and families.

The clinical research unit is also exploring the possible factors that could contribute to resistance to antidepressant treatment. Among the factors studied is individual genetic make-up, cognitive and behavioral risk factors related to treatment response, and the influence of negative life-events on treatment response.

The objective of this study is to increase our understanding of the mechanisms related to resistance to treatment and to develop new treatment strategies taking into account individual specificity.

An additional project aims at examining the potential role of new genetic risk factors for the development of depressive disorders. The identification of new risk factors for depression could be critical to the early detection of subjects at risk and to the development of preventive strategies for depressive disorders but also could lead to the development of specific new antidepressant treatment.

The above research programs are supported by peer-reviewed grants from provincial and federal agencies, as well as from investigator-initiated studies sponsored by the pharmaceutical industry. Dr. Blier holds the Canada Research Chair in Psychopharmacology from the Government of Canada.