There are many questions surrounding participation and what it means for services, consumers, families and carers. It is known as best practice and a requirement to the National Standards for Mental Health Services. Kylie Fryer is a Family and Carer Representative and independent evaluator of non-government mental health services. Kylie was the only community member to participate in the inaugural Mental Health Emerging Leaders Program in Western Australia sponsored by the Office of Mental Health and Senior Mental Health Services Executives. Through this program Kylie utilised her evaluation skills to develop program logic measurements for participation within the Children and Adolescent Mental Health Services environment. This tool is being used to measure multiple aspects of participation such as recruitment, development of representatives and service staff so that policy and procedure development achieves both meaningful participation and meets and links with the National Standards for Mental Health Services; Standard 3.

One year after the commencement of the Mental Health Community Support Services program, where are we in achieving its aims around mental health system reform?

This presentation will outline strategies that Care Connect, and partners Life Without Barriers and Aftercare, implemented, and identify each agency’s strength in developing a service model to meet the needs of people accessing mental health services

In 2014-15 Care Connect, Life Without Barriers and Aftercare expect to support approximately 200 people across the Loddon Mallee Region.
Care Connect and partners use several strategies to build staff capacity to embed, measure and report on our endeavours to support mental health across all programs. We are developing innovative approaches to support staff to achieve system change – using a collaborative approach in all communication, meetings, networks, training and development. Our aim is to broaden the focus of support for staff – beyond a traditional focus on consumer, family and carer – to think in a system-wide community framework.

This presentation will enhance audiences’ awareness of broader systemic and planning needs surrounding community access to mental health services. It will also discuss effective strategies to manage complexities and measure and address system deficiencies.

“Our job is not to judge who will and will not recover. Our job is to establish strong, supportive relationships with those that we work with in order to maximise their chances of recovery” (Pat Deegan).

Mind Australia and Austin Heath implemented the Community Recovery Program (CRP) in metropolitan Melbourne in April 2014. The presenters will discuss this models deliberate focus on revolutionising the traditional Community Care Unit model of care. This model focuses on enhancing the experience of an individual with a serious mental ill health to receive a person-centred, recovery oriented service, delivered from clinical and community services hand in hand under the same roof.
What makes the CRP unique is partnership and collaboration. This is reflective in clinical and community staff having the same role within their job with oversight from the consultant psychiatrist.
This has created opportunity for shared learning and professional development across the multi-disciplinary staff team
The presenters will also discuss the outcomes of their 6 month evaluation - the Scottish Recovery Indicator Tool was used to assess and evaluate the Community Recovery Program. Clients, clinical and community staff, peer workers, family worker and carers were all involved. This particularly gave clients the opportunity to evaluate and make change to the service they receive.

With the rapid growth of the peer workforce, especially in the US and UK, peers and their supporters were expressing concern that their values were being eroded and that the quality of their contribution to the sector not fully realised.

The author then had a conversation with Professor Davidson and we decided to gather together a group of leaders with a lived experience to develop the charter. Fourteen people from nine different countries were involved with the project which has taken nearly eighteen months to complete.

The Center for Psychiatric Rehabilitation at Boston University has approached the author to contribute to a special edition they are publishing in December this year. We thought this would be a good arena to have the International Charter published.

One (1) Australian dies every three (3) hours of suicide and the impact is devastating on those left behind. It is estimated that approximately 6 individuals are impacted by one suicide and exposed in its aftermath to a range of health and mental health issues, including a higher risk of suicide compared to those not exposed.

NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence Suicide Prevention (CRESP) at the Black Dog Institute is aligning current research and planning future projects in collaboration and partnership directly with people who have been touched by the lived experience of suicide, suicidal thinking and behaviours (i.e., attempt survivors).

Research findings provide critical information which can help communities translate and implement findings and change in order to reduce the suicide rate and to improve the quality of life for us all.

What areas do researchers need help from the lived experience with, how and why? How can we together challenge Stigma, encourage and increase advocacy, work towards suicide prevention and help to translate and disseminate research findings to those who require the information?