ACCESSIBILITY
HIDE PAGE
ACCESSIBILITY
Connect with a therapist now

One Stop Talk Privacy Notice

Program Overview

One Stop Talk is an entirely virtual “walk-in” children’s mental health service that offers single session counselling and referral/navigation service. It is a collaboration between several Ontario mental health agencies, led by Strides Toronto. All agencies who provide mental health services as part of One Stop Talk are committed to promoting privacy and protecting the confidentiality of personal health information and personal information.

One Stop Talk uses an artificial intelligence solution to complete an online intake process. Among the information collected is: the client’s preferred language of service, name/nickname, age range, reason for the encounter, and phone number (in case the connection is lost).

Information collected in the One Stop Talk intake process is used by Strides Toronto to match you with a clinician at one of the participating agencies. An up to date list of the agencies providing services through One Stop Talk can be found here.

The clinician will conduct an assessment and (if appropriate) provide clinical interventions, with the end-goal of creating a plan for you to follow in the future. Please note that One Stop Talk is a single session mental health service. At the conclusion of your session, the clinician may ask if you wish to receive navigation services, a tool which helps clients to locate a provider who can deliver mental health services on a go-forward basis. If you consent, the clinician will direct you to a One Stop Talk system navigation specialist, who will facilitate referrals to additional supports or services.

Your Record

The agency who conducts your mental health services session is the health information custodian of the information collected from you during your One Stop Talk session. This means that they have certain obligations regarding the collection, use and disclosure of your personal health information and are governed by the Personal Health Information Protection Act, 2004 (PHIPA). Strides Toronto is a PHIPA agent of the provider. This means that the personal health information that is collected during the intake process and used to make a referral to a clinician is collected by Strides Toronto on behalf of the community agencies to which you may be matched. Once a match is made, the record of your personal health information is the property of the community agency, but the information in your record belongs to you.

With limited exceptions, you have the right to access the health information held about you. 

You can request a copy of your record by contacting the community agency through which you received services and they will explain the process. In rare situations, you may be denied access to some or all of your record (only when the denial is in accordance with applicable law).

One Stop Talk providers try to keep your record accurate and up-to-date. Please let your clinician know if you disagree with what is recorded, and in most cases, your clinician will be able to make the change. Where a change is not possible, the clinician will ask you to write a statement of disagreement and will attach that statement to your record.

Confidentiality

Everyone who works on the One Stop Talk program is bound by confidentiality obligations. We have to protect your information from loss or theft and make sure no one looks at it or does something with it if they are not allowed to as part of their job. If there is a privacy breach, you will be notified.

Our Practices

We collect, use and disclose (share) your health information to:

  • Refer you to a mental health services provider at a community agency 
  • Offer further mental health navigation services (if you require ongoing support)
  • Deliver and evaluate our programs
  • Plan, administer and manage our internal operations
  • Be paid or process, monitor, verify or reimburse claims for payment
  • Conduct risk management, error management and quality improvement activities
  • Educate our staff and students
  • Dispose of your information
  • Conduct research to improve mental health outcomes and service delivery (subject to certain rules)
  • Seek your permission (or permission of a substitute decision-maker) where appropriate
  • Respond to or initiate proceedings
  • Compile statistics
  • Report to the government as required by law
  • Allow for the analysis, administration and management of the health system
  • Comply with legal and regulatory requirements
  • Fulfill other purposes permitted or required by law

Your information will only be collected, used and disclosed (shared) in accordance with Ontario law.

Your Choices

You have a right to make choices and control how your health information is collected, used and disclosed, subject to some limits.

We assume that when you enter your information into the automated One Stop Talk intake platform, you have given us your permission (your consent) to collect your information and to use it to make a referral to a community agency for a single session of mental health services. If you do not wish for your information to be collected, used or shared for the purposes of connecting you with a single session provider, do not complete the intake questions.

If appropriate, you will be asked at the end of your One Stop Talk session if you wish to receive navigation services (i.e. a referral to a clinician who can deliver mental health services on an ongoing basis). If you provide your consent, your personal health information will be shared with the clinician by way of a referral.

When we require and ask for your permission, you may choose to say no. If you say yes, you may change your mind at any time. Once you say no, we will no longer share your information unless you say so. Your choice to say no may be subject to some limits. 

There are cases where we may collect, use or share your health information without your permission, as permitted or required by law. For example, we do not require your permission to use your information for billing, risk or error management, or quality improvement purposes. We also do not need your permission to share your personal health information to keep you or someone else safe; or to meet reporting obligations under other laws such as for child safety.

Consent Directive – Lockbox

You have the right to ask that your clinician not share some or all of your health record with other health care providers, either at their organization or externally. This is known as asking for a “lockbox”. If you would like to know more, please speak to your clinician. If you request restrictions on the use of and disclosure of your health record, your clinician will explain your choices and potential repercussions for those options.

Who Decides

You may make your own decisions if you are “capable”. Your clinician will decide if you are capable, based on a test the law sets out. You may be capable of making some decisions and not others. If you are not capable, you will have a substitute decision-maker who will make your information decisions for you. Who can act as a substitute decision-maker and what they have to do is also set out in law.

There is no magic age when a child becomes able to make their own decisions about their health information.  If a child is under the age of 16, there are some additional rules to know:

For a child who is capable to make their own information decisions, their parent(s) or guardian will also be allowed to make some decisions about their health record. But the parent(s) or guardian won’t be able to make decisions about any records containing information about treatment or counseling that the capable child consented to alone. 

We encourage clients to share information with their family and other caregivers in order to receive support. We also encourage clients to ask their health care provider questions to find out more about privacy and the role of family and caregivers.

For more information or to provide us with feedback

To access a copy of our Privacy Policy, please email to: communications@onestoptalk.ca and ask us for a copy.

We encourage you to contact us with any questions or concerns you might have about our privacy practices. If you have any concerns regarding privacy or a breach of privacy/confidentiality, please contact Darryl Nurse, Strides Toronto’s Privacy Officer, at darryl.nurse@stridestoronto.ca.

If, after contacting us, you feel that your concerns have not been addressed to your satisfaction, you have the right to complain to the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario. The Commissioner can be reached at:

Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario
2 Bloor Street East, Suite 1400
Toronto, Ontario M4W 1A8
1-800-387-0073
or visit the IPC website via www.ipc.on.ca