Mental Health Month

Did you know October is Mental Health Month?

View some local events:

Mental Health Month events – Sydney Metropolitan

Mental Health Month events – Regional NSW

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TAMHSS Responds to Budget: Budget increase, welcome but let’s see the reality

We welcome the extra investment in mental health announced in the Budget last night.  This extra funding has been allocated as set out in the following table.  This new injection of funding reportedly takes mental health from 7% to 8% of the health budget.  This is a real improvement but it does not take mental health’s share to 12% by 2012. 

We do wonder how the mental health commission will work with only approximately $2mil per year allocated for the next 4 years.  We want a great deal more independence for the Mental Health Commission.  We don’t want the Commission to be a select club chaired by the Minister for Mental Health that reports to the Prime Minister but with no real authority or funding to make a difference and to improve the lives of people with lived experience of mental health problems. 

We do want to be reassured that new and redesigned programs will work seamlessly together and that States and Territories will work co-operatively with the Commonwealth towards the best interests of the people that they set out to serve. 

More to come on the National Mental Health Reforms, but in the meantime, here is the mental health budget-at-a-glance.   

Taken from 2011-2012 Budget-at-a-Glance published by the Australian Government 10 May 11.	Millions Over 4yrs	5th yr
National Mental Health Reform – coordinated care and flexible funding for people with severe and persistent mental illness	196.8	146.9
National Mental Health Reform – National Partnership Agreement on Mental Health	155.3	46.0
National Mental Health Reform – expansion of Access to Allied Psychological  Services	144.0	61.9
National Mental Health Reform – Early Psychosis Prevention and Intervention Centre  model – further expansion	141.6	80.8
National Mental Health Reform – expansion of youth mental health	132.3	65.0
National Mental Health Reform – expansion of Support for Day to Day Living in the Community program	15.0	4.2
National Mental Health Reform – establishment of a single mental health online portal	11.1	3.3
National Mental Health Reform – health and wellbeing checks for three year olds	9.9	1.1
National Mental Health Reform – establishment of a National Mental Health Commission	9.6	2.5
National Mental Health Reform – research funding – – – – – – –
National Mental Health Reform – leadership in mental health reform – continuation – – – – – – –
National Mental Health Reform – Better Access Initiative – rationalisation of GP mental health services	306.9	98.9
National Mental Health Reform – Better Access Initiative – rationalisation of allied health treatment sessions	118.7	55.9
Total spend on mental health in first 4 years:	1,241.2
Total spend on mental health in 5th year:		566.5
Total spend on mental health over 5 years:		1807.7

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Floods and Trauma – Resources

Today I was alerted via @johnalchin on Twitter of some excellent resources relevant to the current QLD  and VIC flood situation.

They are Child & Adolescent Trauma, Loss & Grief Network for Disaster resources and they have been compiled by ANU.

The list is comprehensive and authoritative and if you are currently working in this space or would like to find out more they are highly recommended.

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Keynote Speakers – TheMHS Summer Forum – Feb 2011

Our Summer Forum is fast approaching (24&25 Feb 2011) and this year the topic is:

Tackling Aggression – let’s understand, respond and prevent.

The forum will explore the latest research findings on the relationships between mentalhealth, mental ill-health, and aggression and violence, substance use and aggression and violence, the role of medication and more.

We have an excellent lineup of local and international speakers: 

Ronald Diamond

Dr Diamond is currently Medical Director of the Mental Health Center of Dane County, Prof of Psych at the Uni of Wisconsin and Consultant to the Wisconsin Bureau of Mental Health and Substance Abuse.

Dr Diamond will speak on: Dealing with angry people, Chemical restraint: medication and aggression and Borderline Personality and aggression.

Read more about Ronald

 

Kevin Gournay

Kevin Gournay works at the Institute of Psychiatry (Kings College, Uni of London) and is a Chartered Psychologist and a Registered Nurse.

He will speak on: National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence Guidelines on Violence

Read more about Kevin

 

Kathleen Brady

Kathleen Brady is a Professor of Psychiatry at the Medical University of South Carolina, Dept of Psych and Behavioural Sciences.

She will speak on: Substance abuse and violence and aggression, Violence and women, Victimisation and PTSD

Read more about Kathleen

Find out more about the TheMHS Summer Forum held in Sydney in February – we hope to see  you there!

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Victorian Aboriginal suicide prevention and response action plan 2010-2015

This week the Victorian Aboriginal suicide prevention and response action plan 2010-2015 was launched and details the approach of the Victorian Government to prevent and reduce the incidence, and associated impact, of suicide and self-harm in the Victorian Aboriginal population. This document has identified four priority areas and subsequently proposed a total of 45 strategies that seek to address the risks and protective factors for Aboriginal suicide and self-harm. Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet abstract

• Further information:
  • View abstract: Victorian Aboriginal suicide prevention and response action plan 2010-2015 overview
  • View report: Victorian Aboriginal suicide prevention and response action plan 2010-2015 (PDF – 476.0 KB)
  • View website: Mental Health Services, Victoria

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The Shed Online: Supporting Men

This week a new online networking site aims to provide information and support groups for men with depression called The Shed Online

The forum’s an extension of the 400 Men’s Shed groups around Australia and aims to create a virtual community, reaching out to men in rural and remote areas.

The new initiative was produced by The Australian Men’s Shed Association , beyondblue, and the Movember Foundation.

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National Mental Health Report 2010 Released

This report, the eleventh in the series, presents the latest data on progress made under the National Mental Health Strategy.

The report provides a fifteen year view of trends and performance at the national and state and territory levels, over the period spanning the First, Second and Third National Mental Health Plans from 1993 to 2008.

Extensive information is presented that describes changes in the resources and structure of mental health services in Australia since the commencement of the strategy.

You can view and download the report from Dept of Health and Ageing website where you will find the full report.

Don’t have time for the full report read the highlights – National mental health report 2010 – highlights (PDF 25 KB)

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Mental Illness and Stigma – SANE produces Snapshots

Mental illness and stigma is a topic that Mental Health Connect have been discussing for some time so it was with interest that we read a media release by SANE Australia last week entitled – CHANGING THE WAY WE SEE PEOPLE WITH A MENTAL ILLNESS. Here it is below in full:
Snapshots! Changing the way we see people with mental illness
Misunderstanding and stigma have a major impact on people with mental
illness. SANE Australia today launches a new initiative to help reduce this
stigma – Snapshots – through which people can get to know people affected
including family and others who care.

Reducing stigma makes an important contribution to improving the lives of
people with mental illness –from better understanding and support from
politicians and decision-makers, through to changed attitudes from
neighbours, workmates and others, and genuine inclusion in society.

Information alone does not change attitudes towards mental illness and
reduce stigma,‘ explains the Executive Director of SANE Australia, Barbara
Hocking. It is personal contact that makes the real difference.‘

By meeting people who are affected and hearing about their lives, we can
begin to see that they are ordinary people who have been through tough
times with their illness, and who have a right to the same respect as
everyone else,‘ says Ms Hocking.

As part of continuing efforts to reduce stigma, SANE Australia, the national
mental health charity, has developed Snapshots, which aims to make a
difference by changing how we see people with a mental illness; their family
and friends; joys and passions; struggles and pain; battles and despair; frustrations and triumphs and how people with mental illness see
themselves.

Using interviews and photographs, Snapshots (www.sane.org/snapshots)
invites you to get to know these ordinary – yet also extraordinary –
Australians, who reveal what it is like to experience mental illness from the
inside, and share their honest insights into recovery and the importance of
connections with other people.

This initiative moves right away from the inaccurate stereotypes and shows
people as they really are,‘ SANE‘s Executive Director adds. ‗Snapshots aims
to provide hope and encouragement by demonstrating how people can live
full active lives when managing mental illness‘.

Sally, one of the first participants in the project, stresses the importance of
emotional support from others when you have a mental illness. She
describes her mother as her ‗backbone‘ and they speak to each other almost
daily.

Diagnosed with bipolar disorder at 19, Sally spent several years in her words
‗sick – very sick‘. Now, with the right doctor and the right combination of
medications, she hasn‘t been hospitalised for several years, is loving her
new job and enjoying everyday life with her partner.

It‘s been a tumultuous journey, but I‘ve learned from it,‘ Sally explains.
And I‘m excited to be a part of the Snapshots initiative because it it‘s an
opportunity to talk about life in a positive way,‘ she adds.

To read more of Sally‘s story and others too, visit www.sane.org

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World Experts Gather For Conference To Promote Equity In Mental Health

More than 500 mental health researchers, practitioners, and advocates representing over 40 countries will gather for the Sixth World Conference on the Promotion of Mental Health and Prevention of Mental and Behavioral Disorders, November 17–19, 2010, at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, D.C. With the theme Addressing Imbalances: Promoting Equity in Mental Health, the conference will focus on inequalities in care, research, and practice in ways that protect the most vulnerable.

This year there is a focus on inequities in how mental health is promoted, and how mental illness is prevented and treated. Also new will be sessions on mental health and anxiety surrounding world economic woes, rising costs of living, and financial debt, as well as issues stemming from war, and natural and man-made disasters.

Over the next few days Mental Health Connect will be bringing you highlights of the event.

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McGorry and GetUp campaign Greens to support mental health funding.

GetUp Media Release

This afternoon GetUp will commence a campaign urging the Greens to be more pragmatic on mental health by voting for a motion proposed by Shadow Health Minister, Peter Dutton.

“The Greens voted against the mental health motion last week, saying they didnʼt have funding figures.

But today the funding figures have been publicly released by Orygen Youth Mental Health,” said GetUp National Director, Simon Sheikh. “Weʼre now calling on the Greens to support the mental health motion in the House of Representatives vote next week.”

Last week, Shadow Minister for Health and Ageing, Peter Dutton, introduced a motion calling on the Government to expand headspace centres to a minimum of 90 nationally, establish a network of 20 EPPIC centres, and provide an additional 800 beds for mental health associated with these.

“If the Greens work together with the Opposition and Independents, there is an opportunity for every non-government representative in Parliament to vote for increasing mental health funding – it would be a first for this Parliament,” said Mr. Sheikh.

GetUp members will be faxing, emailing and calling Greens MPs and the Independents, asking them to not let politics get in the way of increased funding for mental health.

“Itʼs not every day that we direct our members to focus their energy on the Greens, but there is a real opportunity here so weʼre doing what we can to ensure the parties come together to fix our broken mental health system.”

“We surveyed GetUp members immediately after the recent federal election and of the 30,043 people who partook in the survey, 87.7% thought it an important strategic focus to push the Greens to be more pragmatic in their policy agenda, and it seems we need to do just that on mental health,” said GetUp National Director, Simon Sheikh.

In the motion, Mr Dutton noted that an, “expansion of the headspace and Early Psychosis Prevention Intervention Centres (EPPIC) models could help an estimated 200 000 young Australians, and in doing so, free-up existing services for others with mental illnesses whilst alleviating pressures on public hospitals and emergency departments.”

The motion was concurrently introduced in the upper house by Senator Fierravanti-Wells and passed without the support of the Greens or Government, despite election commitments to fight for better mental health services, including EPPIC and headspace, from both parties.

Greens Senator Rachel Siewert instead put her own motion for mental health reform, a move that was criticised by Australian of the Year, Patrick McGorry, writing for Crikey on October 29th. “A parliamentary motion calling for better mental health care for young Australians through enhanced access to headspace and EPPIC would appear ripe for tri-partisan embrace,” Mr McGorry said. “Yet the ALP and Greens voted against just such a Senate motion when it was introduced by the Coalition this week.”

“The Greens are now a real force in Australian politics and are right to take their position seriously, but this means flexible negotiation even when you donʼt get 100% of what youʼre after,” said Mr. Sheikh.

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