Road to recovery
More than one in five Australians will experience mental illness at some point in their lives.
Often the support of caring family and friends can help people to recover. For others, mental illness can thrust them into a devastating cycle of endlessly shifting between acute care, boarding houses and even homelessness. Now there is real hope that this cycle can be broken thanks to two new community health programs.
The Queensland Government’s Resident Recovery and Transitional Recovery programs will deliver services to adults aged 18 years and over who have a moderate to severe mental illness with a focus on empowering individuals to work towards recovery and independence within the community.
People experiencing mental illness are often told that their symptoms are incurable, but these new programs focus on the realistic goal of recovery. Recovery from mental illness symptoms involves building hope, empowerment and personal belonging. It gives people the opportunity to learn that their symptoms do not have to prevent them from enjoying a meaningful life within the community.
These programs form part of the Queensland Government’s six-year $983.6 million commitment to mental health recovery.
Resident Recovery Program
The Resident Recovery Program will provide an individualised, flexible and responsive service to assist people with a mental illness living in boarding houses and supported accommodation. The program provides assistance along the recovery journey and helps people to build upon their skills to live independently in the community.
Nextt Health and Footprints in Brisbane Inc. will deliver the Resident Recovery Program in the Princess Alexandra and Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital Health Service Districts. The program is vital in the effort to break the cycle between acute care, supported accommodation, boarding houses and homelessness.
Footprints in Brisbane Inc. manager Sue Kavanagh views the program as an excellent opportunity to complement and extend the current support services available to assist people with a mental illness in their recovery. “People who are living in boarding houses and supported accommodation are really quite vulnerable,” Sue says. “This will offer one-on-one support to some of the most vulnerable and marginalised people in our community.”
People supported by the program will have access to a range of supports including assistance with the development of skills necessary to self-manage mental illness. The program will also focus on empowering individuals to move towards more stable lifestyle arrangements by assisting residents to develop their life skills and improve their links with the local community.
Sue says that services will be directed towards meeting individual needs and may include “improved access to health services, sourcing appropriate accommodation options, day-to-day financial planning, and assistance with social support by linking into community-based leisure activities.”
Nextt Health General Manager Tanya Margetts is also excited at the prospect of providing the Resident Recovery Program. “This is about assisting people with their recovery journey.”
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Transitional recovery program
The Gold Coast is also set to benefit from an innovative program for people with a mental illness. The coast will be the location for the first Transitional Recovery Program after the region was identified as a priority area of need for mental health services. FSG Australia will work with Disability Services Queensland and Queensland Health to deliver the innovative program.
The Transitional Recovery Program will provide up to 12 months of intensive support to help people with a mental illness moving from acute care to supported accommodation and finally independent living. Further outreach support can also be provided to assist people to live independently within their community.
A further three Transitional Recovery Programs will be implemented between now and 2010 in locations including the Redcliffe-Caboolture and Logan-Bayside areas.
Vicki Batten, Chief Executive Officer of FSG Australia, believes the program will make a significant difference in the lives of many people on the Gold Coast.
“For recovery to be possible there needs to be a combination of supports in place,” Vicki says. “Linking people back into their local community is a vital part of the recovery process.”
“With access to the right supports and opportunities people with a mental illness can live successfully in the community.”