More than simply providing services, MI Fellowship helps inform decisions and shapes policy.
Among our values is a firm commitment to including consumer voices at every stage of our work and to incorporate consumer views in to our practices.
Here are our views on specific mental health issues:
1. Investment in community-based intervention and support.
The mental health system is overly focused on illness and hospital care. This can lead to treatment approaches in which the person’s illness is the sole focus, and other important aspects of life - such as involvement in community, developing skills and maintaining activities - are neglected.
Yet there is ample evidence that investing in community-based support and intervention can assist in reducing demand for hospital services.
We want:
Increased flexible support for people at home: An expansion in Home-based Outreach packages, including both Intensive and Standard Home-based Outreach packages.
Increased residential rehabilitation capacity: New care packages with enhanced 24-hour support.
Pilot programs that provide coordinated tenancy, psychosocial and clinical support to people living in independent and social housing.
2. Improved access to community housing
Most Australians want to live in a home and a community of their choice, where they feel safe, secure, and private and they are free to pursue interests and maintain relationships. People with mental illness are no different. A stable, affordable home that offers choice, is associated with significantly better health and social outcomes for people with mental illness.
We want:
Increased capital funds and financial incentives for construction of social housing that is integrated into local communities.
Increased rental subsidy to enable people on income support to engage in the broader rental market.
Improved in-reach services to support people living with psychiatric disability in SRS’ and private boarding houses.
3. Strengthened clinical care and treatment planning
People with mental illness often lead complex lives involving multiple services and few choices other than hospital care. Evidence shows that by intervening earlier in the course of mental illness, recovery outcomes can be improved. Many people with mental illness would prefer to receive services in their local community, and we know that coordinated community care can reduce hospital admissions.
We want:
Enhanced assessment, case management and coordination for people with mental illness receiving services in the community.
More Prevention and Recovery Care (PARC) facilities, to provide real alternatives to hospital care for people with higher needs.
Expanded Secure and Extended Care packages delivered through the non-government sector.
4. More effective crisis response
A different approach is required on the part of police and emergency services responding to crises involving people with mental illness. International evidence shows that where those who attend a crisis have greater knowledge and skills and apply a collaborative approach to resolving the problem, injuries, arrests and deaths are reduced.
We want:
Pilots of the Crisis Intervention Team (‘Memphis’ model) for police and mental health services.
Development of short term (24-48 hour) assessment and crisis support programs for people presenting at emergency in distress but who do not meet the criteria for admission into the mental health treatment system.
5. Education as a cornerstone of social inclusion
Education and employment opportunities are the key activities that enable people with mental illness to be part of their communities. Yet there is no clear policy commitment for people with mental illness whose education has been disrupted and who are unable to participate in mainstream tertiary education.
We want:
An integrated approach to planning and providing education and employment for people with a mental illness.
Pilot education projects that enable the effectiveness of specialized education interventions for people with mental illness to be demonstrated.
6. Recognition of evidence-based best practice in disability employment services
Despite the very low level of participation of people with mental illness in paid employment, there is evidence that particular programs – such as ‘Individual Placement and Support’ - can make a real difference. The effectiveness of evidence-based employment approaches needs to be recognized and promoted in national and state policy.
We want:
Increased investment for individualized employment support.
Programs to overcome community prejudice and ignorance about the real capacity of people with mental illness to work in productive jobs. By removing the barriers of discriminatory attitudes among mental health professionals and employers, we will remove a big impediment to greater workforce participation by people with mental illness.
7. Family education and support
The emotional and economic costs of caring can have big impacts on carers, family members and the community at large.
These impacts need to be more widely understood in the community, and those who are caring for a family member with mental illness need pro-active information and support. The services available for families need to be strengthened and based on evidence of effectiveness, just as they are for many other social groups with special needs.
We want:
Funding for peer-led, evidence-based family education programs.
Evaluation funding to develop and extend the evidence base for respite programs.
8. Recovery-focused services
For true recovery, people with mental illness need to gain greater power and control in their own lives and to see their story of mental illness as only a part of their life.
Peer leadership programs in which consumers provide the education to other people with mental illness, is an effective way to foster recovery. People with mental illness need to be brought into more influential roles within the mental health system, including direct employment.
We want:
Funding for peer–led recovery programs that compliment traditional psychosocial rehabilitation.
Real opportunities for people with mental illness to contribute to recovery via employment within the mental health system.
