NewAccess is an early intervention program being piloted across three sites in Australia. The program is based on the highly successful Improving Access to Psychological Therapies Program in the UK. The symposium will focus on providing an overview of the program, evaluation data to date, the development of the Access Coach workforce in Australia, implementing the program within the mental health service system and providing the program as a support service to large employers. The symposium will be 90 minutes in length, with 4 speakers and a chair. Presentations will be delivered by beyondblue, Flinders University and the ACT Primary Health Network. The overarching themes of the symposium are:
- Innovation, quality
- New pathways to care
- Service delivery, implementation
- Service systems, programs
- Translating best practice into reality

Presentations will be 10-15 minutes in length each, with 30 minutes in total available for questions and discussion.

Paper 1: NewAccess - Introducing the first step in a stepped model of care approach to mental health in the ACT
Presenter: Lauren Anthes

Objectives
1. Understanding of the approach taken by ACTML to introduce a new pathway of care into the existing service system landscape
2. Understanding of how NewAccess has filled a system gap for people with mild to moderate depression and anxiety

Abstract
ACT Medicare Local has successfully implemented an early intervention pilot service funded by beyondblue and Movember. NewAccess is based on a highly successful UK initiative called Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT). IAPT proved clinically effective in the UK with a cost –effective economic model that supported the introduction of the service across the whole of the UK.
Through extensive consultation with stakeholders in the Primary Health Care Sector, Community Sector and ACT Public Mental Health Sector, NewAccess was embedded in the ACT within a primary mental health care setting as the first step in a stepped model of care approach to mental health services. This involved making the service as easily accessible as possible by enabling self referrals, maintaining traditional referral pathways e.g. General Practitioner and opening the referral pathway up to Community Sector Services and Allied Health Professionals.
The model of care was developed to take into consideration other mental health services as well as connecting people with appropriate networks to support their needs in the best possible way. NewAccess provides guided self-help to assist clients in developing practical coping strategies to address their symptoms of depression and anxiety. By embedding the service within a primary mental health care setting, clients are able to be easily stepped up into higher intensity services where it is clear they require support from a GP or mental health professional, or stepped down to other supports or self-care where appropriate.

References
Parry, G., Barkham, M., Brazier, J., Dent-Brown, K., Hardy, G., Kendrick, T., ... & Lovell, K. (2011). An evaluation of a new service model: Improving Access to Psychological Therapies demonstration sites 2006-2009. Final report. NIHR Service Delivery and Organisation programme.
Richards, D. A., & Borglin, G. (2011). Implementation of psychological therapies for anxiety and depression in routine practice: two year prospective cohort study. Journal of affective disorders, 133(1), 51-60.

Paper 2: NewAccess - Partnering with large employers to provide support services to staff
Presenter: Lauren Anthes

Objectives
1. Understanding of the approach taken by ACTML to partner with large organisations to provide NewAccess as a support service for staff
2. Understanding of how NewAccess has worked as a support service for large organisations and their employees

Abstract
ACT Medicare Local have successfully implemented an early intervention pilot service funded by beyondblue and Movember. NewAccess is based on a highly successful UK initiative called Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT).
The program aims to deliver a model of support for people who are not currently accessing existing mental health services, including ‘hard to reach groups’ such as men and people whose symptoms may not be considered severe enough for existing services e.g. Better Access. Referral pathways are open, with people being able to self-refer as well as employers and colleagues if they have obtained the consent of the person.
ACTML successfully partnered with ACT Government to provide NewAccess as a support service to ACT Government Employees and individuals affected by the ACT Loose Fill Asbestos Crisis.
This partnership has been hugely successful to date. To make NewAccess available to ACT Government Employees, NewAccess was embedded within existing processes within ACT Government to support their employees e.g. Manager’s offering the service to employees that might be experiencing difficulties at work, as an alternative to EAP.
NewAccess has been a highly appropriate program for those registered with the Asbestos Taskforce as it has provided them with very practical coping strategies to deal with reactive symptoms of depression and anxiety.

References
Parry, G., Barkham, M., Brazier, J., Dent-Brown, K., Hardy, G., Kendrick, T., ... & Lovell, K. (2011). An evaluation of a new service model: Improving Access to Psychological Therapies demonstration sites 2006-2009. Final report. NIHR Service Delivery and Organisation programme.
McDaid, David. "The economics of mental health in the workplace: what do we know and where do we go?." Epidemiologia e psichiatria sociale 16.04 (2007): 294-298.

Paper 3: NewAccess –innovative early intervention for depression and anxiety
Presenter: Bronwyn Hall, beyondblue, New Access Program Leader

Objectives
1. The audience can expect to take away insights into how to measure the effectiveness of an early intervention program and how stigma and barriers can be sidestepped to attract difficult to reach groups.
2. In 2009, the World Health Organisation documented an organisation pyramid for an optimal mix of services for mental health. NewAccess aligns with the foundation layer of primary health, (early intervention and prevention), that is largely void within the Australian mental health landscape, an absence that leads to increased mental health debilitation and poorer economic productivity. NewAccess offers an evidence based, cost effective and measurable intervention suitable for the broadest swathe of the population.

Abstract
NewAccess is a beyondblue led pilot program being demonstrated in three large sites across Australia. Commencing in 2013, it is an adaptation of the highly successful UK Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) program, now embedded into the UK’s National Health Service. The pilot aims to demonstrate the clinical and economic effectiveness of a low-intensity CBT program offered by a new workforce of specifically trained ‘coaches’.
This presentation discusses the exciting results to date, (benchmarked against IAPT) and offers insights into how clients have responded to the use of measurement tools within their sessions and their experience of the program overall. It also includes a discussion of results that relate to typically harder to reach client groups such as men and those living in rural or remote locations where stigma and lack of services are prohibitive barriers.
References
1. IAPT three-year report 2012: The first million patients, Department of Health, UK 2012. www.dh.gsl.gov.uk
2. Improving Health Systems and Services for Mental Health, World Health Organisation 2009

Paper 4: Developing a New Australian Mental Health Workforce: The Low Intensity CBT Coach
Presenter: Paul Cromarty, Senior Lecturer FHBHRU, Flinders University

Objectives
1. A clear outline of the process from recruitment, competency based training, intensive supervision and support structures in place for coaching practice.
2. Examining the emphasis between treatment fidelity and clinical outcome when working with a specific set of interventions and measures of recovery in effective services.

Abstract
Beyondblue’s NewAccess Program has resulted in the emergence of a new Australian mental health workforce, the Low Intensity CBT ‘Coach’. Rather than training current health professionals, low intensity CBT (LiCBT) is delivered by coaches without formal mental health qualifications. LiCBT is offered face-face or via telephone to people without a Mental Health Care Plan who have mild to moderate depression or anxiety. A significant proportion of training and supervision is delivered remotely. Coaches receive six weeks training in LiCBT followed by a year of weekly clinical supervision prior to becoming a qualified LiCBT coach. Training and supervision emphasises fidelity to the evidence base for the LiCBT model. Transparent recovery rates indicate the recruitment process, structured training and supervision for coaches needs further examination as key components to its success. A career structure to develop qualified coaches into more autonomous practitioners, mentors and supervisors requires implementation.