Published on 14 November 2023

Foreword by Grace Crowe

Grace Crowe, Director, Integration Mental Health and Wellbeing

The month of October saw the Mental Health and Wellbeing Services Division achieve a significant milestone of transitioning consumers into the new Sunshine Mental Health and Wellbeing Centre (SMHWC). As we know, this has been years in the making and further signifies the commitment from Western Health to invest in mental health care that is consumer centred and recovery focused. The new SMHWC provides a number of therapeutic spaces for our clinicians to conduct important work with our consumers to support them in their recovery journey.

I was fortunate enough to be involved in the preparations for the SMHWC in the weeks prior to the clinical move and I observed all members of the project and leadership team working incredibly hard to ensure the staff were well prepared and informed to safely care for our consumers in the new space.

The feedback from consumers has been very positive so far and I want to congratulate all the staff who have continued to provide a high level of care every day while adapting to a new space. We all know how busy you are day to day and how hard it can be to work in a brand new environment so on behalf of the MHWS leadership team, thank you for demonstrating positivity, adaptability and resilience.

The Mental Health and Wellbeing Services Division was recently showcased, with myself and Livia Cremona-Bellizia presenting at the Australasian College of Health Service Management conference in Canberra. It was a great opportunity to share the important work we are doing at Western Health.

In typical Western Health fashion, one project finishes and others begin. Readiness for accreditation remains the focus for November, as does the important work in continuing to implement the new Mental Health and Wellbeing Act and readiness for the transfer of care of older adults in the Wyndham and Hobsons Bay catchments to Mercy Health.

Well done to everyone for another big month in our growing Division and I look forward to seeing what the remainder of 2023 will bring for us all.

Grace.

Mental Health Monthly Newsletter PDF 

  • Choice Medication

    We are currently in the process of developing a Western Health specific Choice and Medication web page. This is expected to be completed over the next few months. The NWMH Choice and Medication page is still available for use until January 2024 if required by any staff in the meantime.

    https://www.choiceandmedication.org/nwmh/ 

  • Forms Matrix

    The forms matrix is endorsed to guide clinical staff, specifying the minimum documentation that must be completed during a consumer’s entry into, transition through and discharge from youth, adult and aged services.

    Clinicians should find their team/setting on the left panel and transition activity/occasion on the top header row. Clinical QRGs – Sunshine Mental Health and Wellbeing Centre – Westerly Staff & Volunteers Hub (wh.org.au)

  • Mental Health and Wellbeing Act Module 5: WeLearn

    There are five modules on the Act currently on WeLearn, module 5: Information sharing, crisis response and transport, is now available. 

    These modules are mandatory for Mental Health staff, and essential for everyone else.  

     

    Western Health Welearn

  • Accreditation

    It is likely that a short-notice accreditation survey will happen during November 2023.

    We will be given notice on a Thursday, with a Survey commencing on the Monday and concluding on the Friday.

    How will staff be notified when there will be an accreditation survey and what do we do next?

    We have developed a plan to activate when we are given our 24 hour notice that Accreditation Surveyors will be visiting Western Health.

    This plan includes a number of ways to notify staff, services and patients, including emails, PA announcements and screen savers.

  • Have your say in the National Workforce Survey for Child, Parent and Family Mental Health

    Health, social and community services workers are invited to complete Emerging Minds’ 2023 National Workforce Survey for Family, Parent and Child Mental Health.

    The survey will inform strategies and policy to meet the needs of health, social and community services workers across Australia, and support improved outcomes for infants, children and families.

    This is an opportunity to help build a picture of workforce needs that will help ensure future workforce development strategies meet the needs of real workers and will also contribute to policy advice that will shape children’s mental health policy to come.

    The survey closes on Wednesday 15 November 2023. National Workforce Survey for Child, Parent and Family Mental Health (zohopublic.com.au)

  • 2023 Australasian College of Health Service Management (ACHSM) Asia-Pacific Health Leadership Congress

    Paula Stephenson, General Manager Mental Health and Wellbeing Services

    On October 11-13, 2023, Mental Health and Wellbeing Services (MHWS) Directors, Livia Cremona-Bellizia and Grace Crowe, MHWS Transformation and Reform Manager, Jasmine van den Hurk, Manager, Transformation and Reform, and myself, attended the 2023 Australasian College of Health Service Management (ACHSM) Asia-Pacific health leadership congress in Canberra, ACT.

    Livia and Grace presented ‘Leading mental health change at Western Health, why, how & what?’ and spoke on the disaggregation of mental health services from NorthWest Mental Health to Western Health. They shared the challenges encountered, learnings and reflections identified.

    Livia Cremona-Bellizia, Director, Service Development and Reporting, and Grace Crowe, Director, Integration Mental Health and Wellbeing

    It was an honour to present our work at the Asian Pacific Health Leadership Congress on the Mental Health and Wellbeing Transition and Integration project.

    The conference was a great coming together of minds to explore issues, share learnings and be inspired by the great work taking place both locally and internationally.

    It was a reminder that great work happens in collaboration and as one of the keynote speakers highlighted, in this dynamic world, we need to keep learning, unlearning and relearning to meet the needs of our ever-changing landscape.

     

     

    Jasmine van den Hurk, Manager, Transformation and Reform

    The conference was an opportunity to network and create connections that may result in future collaborations.

     

    Paula Stephenson, General Manager Mental Health and Wellbeing Services

    I was invited to participate in a leadership roundtable discussing Optimising the health workforce: innovative models, community health/primary care, geographical disparities, better integration of staff agencies.

    This was one of three workshops held during the congress to discuss health sector issues. ACHSM will develop a College position paper capturing the outcome of workshop discussions to provide visible voice in health sector issues.

    I also had the opportunity as an invited attendee to provide input on the development of Australia’s Nursing Workforce Strategy. The session was facilitated by Karen Cook, Nursing Taskforce, Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care.

  • Art Exhibition at Hunt Club Community Arts Centre

    Madeline Anderson, Key Clinician/Psychiatric Occupational Therapist Central Community Mental Health 

    Art is a de-stressor for most people, Maddy included. Now she can share her love for arts and crafts at Harvester Clinic as an Occupational Therapist.

    The arts and craft group, run by Maddy and other Harvester Clinic staff, have their artwork on display at the Hunt Club Community Arts Centre in Deer Park.

    The group consists of consumers from Harvester Clinic who enjoy art as an outlet, or who want to try something new and meet people. Participants are all case managed clients with a range of mental health difficulties and conditions. These individuals often encounter isolation and barriers with forming meaningful connections within their communities. In response, clinicians at Harvester Clinic initiated an arts and craft group, offering a therapeutic outlet for self-expression and community engagement.

    In the early days of the group, the Harvester teams’ hope was to just get people involved, now consumers are having their say in what they are interested in, what they want to do and express with their arts and craft. The team started the group by planning structured art-based activities, but over time participants have contributed their ideas, wanting to sew or paint, some have brought in their art they’ve created outside the group to show and share with others for inspiration.

    Consumers can come to the group and get started quickly, others need more help identifying what kind of projects they’d like to work on and figuring out ways that they can do that. The Harvester team can give as much or little support to each participant as needed.

    Some participants come to the group classes loving arts and crafts, eager to get involved and create. Others, who aren’t sure at first (and admittedly come only for the free coffee), surprise themselves with how much they enjoy socialising and creating.

    The group runs for 10 weeks on a term-like basis, seven artists from this art group have their creations on display at the Hunt Club Community and Arts Centre in Deer Park.

     

    Jerry, a consumer at Harvester, has two individual art pieces on display at the Hunt Club.

    “I remember when I was at PARC earlier on this year, I was watching a lot of Bob Ross on YouTube, the two pieces [paintings] I did, they’re inspired by him.

    On the first one, I included a quote from him, he says ‘trees need friends’, and the bottom one [painting] is the lyrics to a song ‘you gotta make your own kind of music and sing your own special song’ which is by The Mamas & the Papas. It just felt like nice to put that into sort of like an image.”

    At the start of his art journey, Jerry didn’t think he would be able to contribute much, but he found the group fun.

    “It was really good, there was no pressure or anything, just the fact that you could be yourself. I found it very beneficial.” Jerry said.

    When asked what his favourite thing about art is, Jerry replied “I like that you can relate to art, sometimes on a mental level, or an emotional level. There’s something about when you see something and it resonates with you, it can be special.

    Sometimes I feel okay, and sometimes I feel not so okay. I sort of push through it. Sometimes there are times where before I do art, I’m not feeling so great, and then after I finish doing something I feel better. I feel like, oh, I’m not feeling so down right now, I can do other things too.

     

    I prefer writing, I just sometimes like to write a story to get my feelings out, or the stuff that’s in my head. If someone reads it and finds it helpful, or gets something out of it, it feels like a rewarding experience.” Jerry said.

    This exhibit is a culmination of months of dedication from our consumers, a testament to the transformative power of creating. 15 art pieces, including both individual and group works. are on display now until mid-December.

     

  • APAC Women's Mental Health Conference

    Madeline Thyer

    The Yanna Yanna PARC leadership team attended the inaugural Asia-Pacific Conference on Women’s Mental Health on 11-13 October. The conference is the first of its kind within Australia and brought together leaders in research, academics, educators and advocates who explored Women’s Mental Health through the life span. The conference focused on trauma, reproductive health, cultural factors, menopause, perinatal mental health and eating disorders to name a few.

    The team were also fortunate to present at the conference with a presentation titled ‘One year later at Yanna Yanna PARC New Perspectives & Challenges of Setting up a Women’s Mental Health & Recovery Service’. The presentation focused on the model of care, key statistics and operational challenges of opening a new service. In addition, the team also explored the demographics and presentations of those women who have been cared for at Yanna Yanna PARC.

    Congratulations to Dr Chloe Kindred & Dr Sneha Varghese (Previous Yanna Yanna PARC Registrars), Dr. Karishma Kulkarni (Lead Psychiatrist), Leanne Turner (Team Leader), Claire Cashman (Wellways Manager) and Madeline Thyer (Program Manager) for being selected to present. The presentation received very positive feedback and a lot of interest in the specialized specialised care the team are providing.

  • Yanna Yanna PARC celebrates its 1st Birthday!

    On 26 September, Yanna Yanna PARC celebrated 1 year since

    the first consumer was admitted.

    It was a momentous occasion for the team and a chance to celebrate all that has been achieved over this period. Yanna Yanna PARC is the first prevention and recovery centre in Victoria that not only provides recovery focused care to women, but is also able to accommodate dependent children. Some key statistics for this period include:

    • Admissions: 115
    • Assessments: 143
    • Children (onsite): 7
    • Psychoeducation Groups – 740
    • Recreation/ mindfulness groups: 370

    The Yanna Yanna PARC leadership team looks forward to the years ahead and continues to build this specialised service focusing on women’s mental health.

     

  • ACHMHN Conference 2023

    Linda Mora

    Australian College of Mental Health Nurses (ACMHN) is the peak professional mental health nursing organisation and the recognised credentialing body for Australia’s mental health nurses.

    It represents 25,000 mental health nurses across all levels of government and health service sectors and have local branches across Australia.

    ACMHN sets the standards for practice and professionalism, drives research, endorses training programs and supports continued professional development, and advocates to Federal and State/Territory Governments on behalf of mental health nurses.

    Every year, ACMHN hosts a three-day conference, with this year’s event taking place at the Sofitel in Melbourne, setting a record with over 500 delegates in attendance. Ten nurses from Western Health were fortunate to be granted the opportunity to participate, and we extend our thanks to Western Health, Shane Crowe, Ryan Dube for coordinating the ticket arrangements, and Jolene Geh for her support in enabling these nurses to attend.

    This conference attracts a diverse audience, with presentations from across the country and around the world. It delivered valuable insights and gives you a sense of pride to be a part of the specialty of mental health nurses who continuously strive to improve their practice and achieve better outcomes for those under their care.

    Looking ahead, the conference will relocate to Perth next year, and we are hopeful that Western Health Mental Health Nurses will have the chance to showcase some of the outstanding work they have been undertaking.

     

  • Western Metro Mental Health and Wellbeing Interim Regional Body Workshop

    Livia Cremona-Bellizia, Director, Service Development and Reporting

    The Western Metro Mental Health and Wellbeing Interim Regional Body (IRB) was established to provide advice to the Department of Health as it plans, develops, coordinates, funds and monitors a range of mental health and wellbeing services in our region.

    On Friday 27 October the IRB hosted its first workshop at Sunshine Hospital to obtain advice on preferred ways to improve care, treatment and support for mental health and wellbeing consumers, with the central themes being insights, issues and opportunities. The workshop was well attended by representatives of mental health and wellbeing service providers and agencies from across the region and it was a wonderful opportunity for connection and sharing of experiences and ideas for moving forward.

    More than 65 participants were fortunate to have our own Adj. Prof. Russell Harrison as the keynote speaker for the event. Russ was compelling in his commitment to embed and grow mental health and wellbeing services at Western Health and to forge deeper relationships with our community stakeholders.

    Congratulations also to Jasmine van den Hurk, Manager, Transformation and Reform

    Western Health, and Caroline Schmidli, consumer lead, Western Health, who were also invited to present, delivering thought-provoking presentations on priority issues and opportunities for solutions for our sector. We are looking forward to continuing to work with the IRB until the permanent regional boards are established in early 2025.

  • Older Adults Transition Plan

    The care of older adult consumers residing in Wyndham and Hobsons Bay will transfer to Mercy Health from 20 November.

    Planning is well underway to ensure each consumer is fully informed of the change and will be transferred safely with their consent. The transfer will take place over 4 weeks and is expected to be completed before Christmas.

    Mercy will start accepting new referrals from 1 November for consumers residing in the above areas.

  • Victorian Collaborative Centre for Mental Health and Wellbeing

    The Victorian Collaborative Centre for Mental Health and Wellbeing has reached its one-year anniversary since establishment, with many exciting updates happening during this time.

    On 26 October, Chair Terry Laidler announced the appointment of Co-Chief Executive Officers (Co-CEOs), Carolyn Gillespie and Professor Sarah Wilson.

    The Centre’s Co-CEOs will work closely together to drive reform and enhance collaboration across the sector, enacting key recommendations of the Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health system

    Other updates within the Collaborative Centre include the establishment of the ‘Lived Experiences Advisory Panel’ (LEAP) which provides strategic advice to the board, and last month reaching a major milestone by appointing the University of Melbourne, and the Royal Melbourne Hospital to join other health care services; including Western Health, as lead mental health services and academic partners

    The Collaborative Centre has begun distributing a newsletter to share the latest news and updates, sign up to the newsletter via this link Victorian Collaborative Centre for Mental Health and Wellbeing (list-manage.com)

  • Hamilton Centre Newsletter

    The Hamilton Centre has recently announced the appointment of the Hamilton Centre Manager, Irina Hart, and Associate Program Director of statewide and national treatment services at Turning Point Richmond – Rick Loos; providing operational support and oversight of the Hamilton Centre.

    The Hamilton Centre Scholarship Program received a high number of applications, filling all available scholarships for this round. Future rounds of the program will be promoted via the Hamilton Centre newsletter and website Hamilton Centre.

    Join the Hamilton Centre mailing list to receive information on education and professional development training opportunities, updates on our clinical network and research projects, and other Hamilton Centre initiatives.

    Hamilton Centre (list-manage.com)

  • National Nursing Workforce Strategy

    Consultation on Australia’s first National Nursing Workforce Strategy is open until 30 November 2023.

    We’d like to hear from anyone who is a nurse, wants to be a nurse or has an interest in the future of the nursing workforce.

    A range of ways to participate are available, including an online survey, written submission, video submission, webinars and face-to-face workshops.

    To participate in consultation visit www.health.gov.au/topics/nurses-and-midwives/consultations

    For more information on the National Nursing Workforce Strategy visit www.health.gov.au/NNWS

  • DTS winds down in SMHWC

    As we are now two weeks post-clinical move into the Sunshine Mental Health and Wellbeing Centre (SMHWC), Digital Technology Services (DTS) ground support will be coming to an end.

    The DTS support team will be winding down their presence in the SMHWC this week and hand over all IT related queries and IT user issues to the IT service desk as business as usual.

    As such, please log all IT issues via the DTS service desk using the contact information below.

    Email: servicedesk@wh.org.au

    Phone: 8345 6777

    In addition, IT Quick Reference Guides can be found on Westerly here: ICT QRGs for Western Health Staff – Westerly Staff & Volunteers Hub (wh.org.au)