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Peace of Mind Project “The Power of Partnerships”. Building the Mental Health Literacy of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender (GLBT) Communities in NSW Vicky Coumbe-ACON. Background.
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Peace of Mind Project“The Power of Partnerships” Building the Mental Health Literacy of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender (GLBT) Communities in NSW Vicky Coumbe-ACON
Background • In 2009, ACON received a grant from the Mental Health and Drug and Alcohol Office (MHDAO), NSW Health, to build a mental health program targeting the GLBT community to address the disproportionately high rates of mental health distress in the community. • Initially the project aimed to model the “Mental Health First Aid” course tailored for GLBT communities. • Investigation into available existing accredited workshops occurred. • In line with the objectives from the ACON Mental Health Strategy, a best practice recovery oriented model decided upon.
Objectives of Peace of Mind • Increased knowledge around mental health issues facing the GLBT community (GLBT community and service providers) • Increased ability of mental health service providers to provide culturally appropriate services to the GLBT community • Increased access for members of the GLBT community to mental health services in NSW • Increased ability of individuals within the GLBT community to identify and respond to their own mental health needs • Increased recognition of and responsiveness to the mental health issues and needs of the GLBT community
Partnerships to meet objectives • ACON has a wealth of experience in community engagement and peer education within GLBT context • Strong history in direct service delivery of therapeutic counselling and group work across NSW • ACON needed to partner with a mental health peak body with a strong focus on mental health education that was well established and evaluated. • The Mental Health Coordinating Council (MHCC) were also looking to find avenues of engagement with GLBT communities • MHCC met all of these requirements and willing to make appropriate adaptations to existing material to meet our needs
Mental Health Coordinating Council Partnership • The MHCC provided a credible and accessible 1 day adaption of their highly evaluated and acclaimed MH CONNECT Workshop. • 2 pilot workshops were recruited for and delivered to gather feedback for evaluation purposes. • A final adaption was produced and is now one of the community workshops of Peace of Mind. • Jointly delivered service provider information sessions presenting GLBT mental health issues through the “Meet Your Neighbour” sessions. • A formalised, sustainable working partnership on other projects that would increase MHCC engagement with GLBT communities and strengthen ACON’s work with a peak MH organisation beyond the life of the funding stream.
National LGBTI Health Alliance Partnership • Feedback from participants led us to add additional community workshops on the topics of depression and suicide prevention • The LGBTI Health Alliance was able to provide us the knowledge that we needed to deliver more community workshops • Rainbow Blues- understanding depression and anxiety in LGBTI People • From Dying to Thriving- understanding and responding to suicide in LGBTI People • Training up ACON staff to jointly deliver workshops. Opportunity to up-skill staff for future training delivery
Gay & Lesbian Health Victoria (GLHV) Partnership • Designed by GLHV • GLBT sensitivity training for the mental health sector • Free of charge ½ day training, state wide delivery for service providers within mental health sector and other allied health workers • Main objective of increasing accessibility to mental health services for community members by removing real or perceived access barriers
The importance of networking • Limitations often experienced by NGO’s and not for profit sectors, both financial and skills based • Time limitation- 18 months funding stream • Working to your strengths • Why reinvent the wheel? • Mutual benefit, not to mention to advantage gained for the participants of the workshops • Ongoing working relationships / referrals / future collaborations
Thank You • Contacts: • www.peaceofmindproject.com.au • Vicky Coumbe, Project Manager • vcoumbe@acon.org.au • (02) 9206 2121