Authors: Donna Matthews, Laura Anstee
Year: 2017
Event: 2017 TheMHS Conference
Subject: Community, Culture, Society,Lived Experience, Recovery,Change, Innovation, Reform
Type of resource: Conference Presentations and Papers
Abstract: From November 2014, St Vincent’s Mental Health Melbourne (SVMH) has been part of the Pilot Project of the Expanding Post Discharge Support Program (EPDSP). The Victorian Government is committed to improving the discharge experience for consumers from Acute Inpatient Services (AIS) and to offer discharge peer support as a complement to clinical services, with the aim of decreasing the 28 day readmission rate.
Consumer peer workers use their unique lived experience in mental health to engage with consumers and support them on their Recovery journey.
The Program uses the Intentional Peer Support model for the first time in AIS in Victoria.
The EPDSP consumer peer workers at SVMH have developed innovative strategies to engage with consumers and to support them to make community connections, in order to decrease their social isolation, increase confidence and achieve meaningful life goals.
We will also present findings about the effect that the EPDSP is having in both quantitative and qualitative formats, as well as vignettes.
Learning Objectives
Learning Objective 1: People in the audience will learn how to set up an Expanding Post Discharge Support Program (EPDSP) at their own Service and hear about creative ways to adapt the EPDSP to suit their Service. They will also learn about some of the challenges that St Vincent’s Mental Health Melbourne faced during the Pilot Program and what our learnings are from being in the Pilot Program in Victoria. Audience members will also learn how our EPDSP is impacting on consumers within our Service and what the early outcomes are for our Key Performance Indicators, such as the 28 day readmission rate.
Learning Objective 2: Services across Victoria received funding for the Expanding Post Discharge Support Program late in 2016. Having peer workers with lived experience of mental distress working on Acute Inpatient Units and within the community is an exciting new concept and program. We hope that this Program will have continued and expanded funding to be rolled out nationwide. Discharge peer support is an innovative and holistic addition to the care already provided by clinical teams. The Program incorporates an Intentional Peer Support model (Sherry Mead 2014) in acute inpatient services for the first time in Victoria.
References
1. National Standards for Mental Health.
2. Framework for Recovery-oriented practice.
3. Mead, S. (2014) Intentional Peer Support Core Materials.
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