Hope is defined as the expectation or desire for positive events in the future and it is frequently considered an important component of recovery for people living with serious mental illness. The study of hope is thus highly relevant in the context of the increasing implementation of recovery oriented services.
This research examined hope, wellbeing and mental health outcomes in 60 consumers with a diagnosis of schizophrenia and 58 carers in their immediate families.
Consumer and carer hope scores were less than many comparable groups living in the community, and similar to the hope scores of people with chronic medical illness. Increased consumer symptoms were associated with decreased hope, but carer burden was independent of hope levels.
These findings emphasise the lack of hope in consumers with severe and enduring mental illnesses such that when hope is low, symptoms can dominate positive expectancies for consumers. For carers, the results indicate a degree of resilience, since hope was not related to burden.
Given the low levels of hope experienced by carers and consumers, this research suggests the need for new ways to address the challenges in restoring hope and achieving recovery; for example, through assistance with developing and achieving goals.

Family interventions are recommended in treatment guidelines for many mental health conditions. Yet consistent with overseas experience, the routine use of family interventions in Australian mental health services is more the exception than the rule. This paper describes the learning gained from a series of projects conducted by The Bouverie Centre that aimed to establish family interventions in mental health settings. The Building Family Skills Together involved the introduction of Behavioural Family Therapy to an adult mental health team. Mental Health Beacon involved partnering with eight adult mental health services to implement four different family interventions. Most recently The Bouverie Centre has partnered with headspace in the Family Inclusive Practice Model project which aimed to introduce Single Session Family Consultation in eight centres across Victoria and South Australia. All of these projects involved the use of an implementation framework to facilitate the introduction of family interventions and an extended period of engagement ranging from two to three years. This presentation identifies what has worked in implementing family interventions across these varied models, projects and settings as well as what has been less effective. The broader question of the future role of family interventions in mental health services is also considered.

Many consumers of mental health services are parents. Parenting with a mental illness can be both a motivator and a challenge for recovery. Addressing the needs of families where a parent has a mental illness is vital to assist with the recovery process. Over the last 10 years, there have been significant changes to policy and direction of mental health services to address the needs of parents with a mental illness, their children and their families so that attending to parenting and responsibilities towards dependent children is seen as core work (Nat Standards Workforce, MH reform, MH act 2014). However translation of such principles into practice requires clear, achievable guidelines that can be understood within the context of the demands of the adult mental health workforce (Goodyear et al 2015). This paper will present the FaPMI (Families where a Parent has a Mental Illness) standards for adult mental health services and explore how these can help services and practitioners better adapt practice to respond to consumers who are parents, their children and their families.