Dr. Andrea Somers, an emergency physician at Toronto’s University Health Network, has witnessed a recurring problem where patients who lack follow-up care often resort to visiting the hospital emergency department (ED).
Some patients do not have access to a phone, which prevents them from scheduling follow-up appointments. Somers launched Phone Connect in July 2020, a project that provides prepaid cellphones to the homeless, people with mental health or substance use issues, or those who are socially isolated, with the aim of getting people the necessary follow-up care they need to avoid visiting the ED.
The project has received funding from private donors and research funding, and the cost of monthly bills for the phones is $5.49, far less than the cost of a single visit to the ED.
The Canadian Observatory on Homelessness states that those experiencing homelessness often live in conditions that negatively impact their short- and long-term health, and they face challenges accessing general health-care services due to not having a health card or access to a phone.
The use of virtual care has become widespread during the COVID-19 pandemic, and Somers believes that providing phones to vulnerable patients is a practical way to improve the continuity of their care and reduce their visits to the ED.
Preliminary data from the Phone Connect project, which has distributed more than 450 donated phones, shows that 68 patients who received a phone were able to avoid one ED visit over a three-month period.
The data also indicates that the donated phones have helped people connect with addiction counsellors, family doctors, and other specialists.
Dr. Louis Francescutti, an emergency physician at Edmonton’s Royal Alexandra Hospital, praises Somers’s project as an innovative idea to connect individuals to follow-up care, but suggests that more needs to be done to help vulnerable individuals acquire identification and find housing.
Brian Cleary, a formerly homeless activist working on homelessness in Toronto, emphasizes the importance of having a cellphone and access to a primary care physician.
He believes that the treatment of the poorest in society is “horrendous” and that policymakers need to invest in affordable housing and solutions to address the issue.
Somers hopes that the Ontario government adopts the Phone Connect project more widely and considers it a life-changing project for those who have received a phone.
»Toronto ER physician donates cellphones to the homeless for easier followup care«
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