Mental health service home support boost
12 October 2007
Mental health service home support boost
A new mental health support service announced by local organisation Karingal this week, will help bridge the widely-acknowledged gap between clinical care and on-going, home support for people with mental illness.
A two-pronged initiative offering guidance and support to people with chronic mental illness and respite to their carers, the Federally-funded service will be provided through Karingal Community Living.
Importantly, the free service does not require people to have a clinical diagnosis of mental illness.
Project manager for Karingal mental health support services, Jenny Porter, said referrals for the program could be “taken from anywhere'', including family members, friends, general practitioners or the person themself.
However, participants had to be more than 16 years-of-age and agree to be part of the program, Jenny said.
Part of the Federal Government’s 2006 mental health budget commitment, the Personal Helpers and Mentors program would see workers assist people with chronic mental illness to set, and achieve, goals, and “take small steps’’ towards recovery, Jenny said.
“Assistance may come at the very basic level of supporting someone to just get out of bed, have a shower and get dressed,’’ she said. “But it could also go a lot further, to helping someone plan a holiday or get a job.’’
Workers would be equipped to deal with a wide range of mental illnesses, including schizophrenia, bipolar mood disorder, schizoaffective disorder and depression, and would work closely with health professionals, Jenny said.
The respite service was part of a recent $35 million Federal initiative aimed at giving carers of people with mental illness much-needed time-out, and would be made available immediately, she said.
A total of nearly 12,000 hours of respite support per year would be offered to local families and could be provided in the person’s home or through community-based activities, Jenny said.
Caring for people with long-term mental illness could be relentless and exhausting, she said.
It was vital carers took time-out for themselves every now and then, so they could continue in their roles.
A full-time carer for his mentally ill, older brother, Rene Costmeyer said the new Karingal service would give him the support, encouragement and, most importantly, rest he needed to keep battling on.
"This sort of help - getting a bit of a break - will save my life,'' said Rene.
With one in five Australians suffering from some form of mental illness at any one time, the need for more mental health support services was not in question, Jenny Porter said.
Up to 80 local individuals and families were already receiving support through the service and that number was expected to increase dramatically when the service became more established and widely-known.
For more information on Karingal mental health support services call 03 5249 8900.
Contact details:
Karingal media officer – Mandy Squires
Ph: 0423 025 702
Karingal mental health support services project manager – Jenny Porter
0404 822 192