Authors: Nicola Hancock, Connie Digolis, Amanda Bresnan, Jacinta Borilovic, Jennifer Smith-Merry
Year: 2019
Event: 2019 TheMHS Conference
Subject: Tracking consumer transitions (or not) to the NDIS: A national four-phase study.
Type of resource: Conference Presentations and Papers
Abstract:
Biography:
Dr Nicola Hancock is a mental health occupational therapy academic at the University of Sydney. Her research focuses on understanding mental health recovery and wellbeing, participation and inclusion. She also examines the mental health workforce and service systems designed to support participation, inclusion and recovery.
Connie is the CEO of the Mental Health Council of Tasmania and is the Community Mental Health Australia (CMHA) project lead for this project. Community Mental Health Australia (CMHA) is a coalition of the eight peak community mental health organisations from each State and Territory and was established to provide leadership and direction to promote the importance and benefits of community mental health and recovery services across Australia, providing a unified voice for over 800 community-based, non-government organisations who work with mental health consumers and carers across the nation. Connie has a wealth of experience in community sector management, advocacy, health promotion and policy.
Federal policies, funding decisions and time-frames for funding reallocations are all being made based upon an assumed number of people transitioning from federally funded programs into the NDIS and an assumed speed or rate of transition.
Community Mental Health Australia (CMHA) and The University of Sydney partnered in a National Mental Health Commission funded project. The aim was to provide publicly available, accessible national data to facilitate policy and funding decisions to be made in-line with actual practice and help ensure that reallocations of funding do not occur too rapidly, leaving those not yet ready to test their eligibility, not choosing to do so, or found ineligible, without needed community-based mental health services and supports.
The project is currently mid-way and will have concluded prior to August. We will report on the rich, longitudinal data that evidences the NDIS transitional journeys (or not) of thousands of Australians living with serious mental illness. Alongside this data, we will reflect upon current federal responses and approaches to their commitment that no one will be worse off’ whether or not they are accepted or engage with the NDIS.
Learning Objectives
Learning Objective 1: The audience will leave with an understanding of the national NDIS transition experiences of Australians living with severe and persistent mental illness as well and an informed assessment of the adequacy or otherwise of federal responses to this evidence.
Learning Objective 2: Sharing of national NDIS transition data facilitates an informed sector including policy makers, funders, service providers, consumers and families. An informed sector enhances advocacy, informed discussion and ultimately evidenced-based decision making.
References
Smith-Merry, J, N. Hancock, A. Bresnan, I. Yen, J. Gilroy, G. Llewellyn (2018) Mind the Gap: The National Disability
Insurance Scheme and psychosocial disability. Final Report: Stakeholder identified gaps and solutions. University of Sydney: Lidcombe.
Mental Health Australia (2018). Optimising Psychosocial Supports Project report. Australia: Mental Health Australia. Downloaded from: https://mhaustralia.org/media-releases/optimising-psychosocial-supports-project-report
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