Family friendly mental health services

The development of the Family Friendly Mental Health Services component of the NSW Family and Carer Mental Health Program is focused on supporting local service improvements by enhancing the skills of mental health service staff to work with families and carers as partners in care. Area Mental Health Services now employ staff to provide local workforce training and development and provide access to specialist clinical advice. They are also developing structures to allow families and carers to have input into service delivery. Some local variations will occur in what is available, dependent on staff capacity and local need.

 

As part of the Family Friendly Mental Health Services component of the Family and Carer Mental Health Program, the Mental Health and Drug & Alcohol Office also funded South East Sydney Illawarra Area Health Service to run the Working With Families Stage 3 Statewide Training Project (WWF). In 2007, the WWF team developed the Connecting With Carers Is Everybody’s Business handbook and DVD. This resource is designed for use by mental health workers across the state to train mental health staff in the basic skills required to connect with and assess family and carer needs and to build strong partnerships between the mental health service and family and carers, with the aim of working towards a better health outcome for consumer of the service.

 

To download a copy of the Connecting With Carers is Everybody’s Business Handbook click here.

 

To download a copy of the Connecting With Carers is Everybody’s Business DVD click here.