We know many of our branches have moved some or all of their services to virtual methods of delivery, In response to changes in care because of COVID-19.  In some cases, this has resulted in improved delivery and for some clients it has proven to be a barrier to care.  Many of you have been thinking about or already collecting information on the effect of moving to virtual services. It is vital to understand the impact of these changes on outcomes such as client experience and having robust provincial data will be critical for the purposes of planning and quality improvement.

The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health has recently released the Virtual Client Experience Survey (VCES).  The 23-item tool, available to download free of charge, has been adapted from a survey that underwent initial validation. A 9-item version, the VCES-Brief, is also available to download, to enable more rapid measurement of client perceptions of care. The tool is aligned with the standardized Ontario Perception of Care Tool for Mental Health and Addictions (OPOC-MHA), which is the focus of the Excellence through Quality Improvement Project(E-QIP) 3.0.

Organizations are encouraged to download the VCES and VCES-Brief and begin using them immediately to gather client feedback on the virtual service experience. A webinar on July 14th from, 1:30-2:30pm EST, will offer an overview of the tool and its alignment with the OPOC-MHA. To register for this webinar, please click here.