Halton residents had a chance to comment on what's working and what's not when it comes to mental health and addiction services at a recent community meeting.

We attended the session, which was hosted by the Mississauga-Halton Local Health Integration Network (LHIN), and we met the LHIN Mental Health and Addictions Detailed Planning and Action Team.

This team is collecting community feedback that will be used to improve mental health and addictions service delivery.

The 30 to 40 clients and service providers who attended the meeting were divided into three discussion groups, and we cautiously began sharing our experiences in accessing or providing appropriate mental health-care and addiction treatment.

As we rotated through the round table discussions, the facilitators filled page after page of easel paper with our experiences, frustrations and pleas for long-needed improvements in mental health-care delivery, and the discussions became more animated.

The meeting became so lively that it seemed no one wanted to stop talking at the end. A group of mostly strangers who began the meeting discouraged and somewhat cynical became energized and seemed hopeful that positive change is possible.

Diane Koz, the senior planning and integration consultant for the Mississauga-Halton LHIN, promised to notify us when the community feedback from across the LHIN has been summarized.

From this summary, the priorities for the future of mental health and addiction services in Mississauga-Halton will be set.

The LHIN concept and current process of seeking consumer input within the planning process provides new hope that the delivery of much-needed mental health and other health-care services will be more consumer driven in the future.

It appears that LHIN administrators may be prepared to fill the many voids in mental health services. It's a good start and we'll be watching the execution part of the equation.

The importance of this process to everyone who lives in this area can't be overstated. It was well worth juggling our schedules and going out in the cold to take part in this vital process. Please join us next time.

SHARON CRAVEN AND JILL SIMM, CONSUMER ADVISORY AND ADVOCACY COMMITTEE, MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES, HALTON HEALTHCARE SERVICES