Mental Health and Addictions System Performance in Ontario: An Updated Scorecard, 2009-2017

Scorecards, particularly those that report on health system performance over time, can shed light on issues related to access and quality. In this updated 2020 Mental Health and Addictions Scorecard, we report on a number of indicators between 2009 and 2017. In general, we found that the performance of the mental health and addictions health system did not improve substantially over time. Among the many findings, over the past decade, suicide rates have not declined and rates of emergency department visits for deliberate self-harm have continued to rise. The highest rates of deliberate self-harm and the greatest rise over time in overall mental health and addictions-related outpatient visits, emergency department visits and hospitalizations were experienced by individuals aged 14-24 years. There continues to be a growing use of mental health services in outpatient settings, with the majority of care provided by primary care physicians. We also observed a slight decrease over time in the proportion of individuals who had no physician-delivered mental health care prior to presenting to the emergency department, which suggests an improvement in access over time.