Mental Health

After extensive consultations across metropolitan and regional South Australia, the Office of the Chief Psychiatrist and Policy prepared a draft Strategy and called for submissions and comments from members of the community and other key stakeholders. HCA is pleased to see the State government’s commitment to developing a Strategy to address the complex area of suicide prevention. The goals of the SA Suicide Prevention Strategy are: Goal 1 – to promote resilience in the individual…

The roadmap was developed by the Council of Australian Governments and the Department of Health and Ageing. It identified the following four key directions: Promoting good mental health and wellbeing and preventing mental illness and suicide Early detection and intervention Consumers and carers at the heart of services and support Supporting people to participate in society Making services work for people – access, quality, integration and coordination Our response included: We were pleased to see…

This was developed by Rehabilitation and Recovery Services, Mental Health Operations, SA Health. Our written response was lodged in November 2011 and we attended a workshop in March 2012 to further highlight consumer issues including: Important to provide information about the framework to consumers and carers so they have an understanding of what they can reasonably expect in terms of service delivery Provide information to the Health and Community Services Complaints Commissioner so the staff…

HCA is pleased to see a Review of the Statement and appreciated the opportunity to submit our comments and feedback. We acknowledged the work that had been done in the preparation of the revised statement and the intent to improve the accessibility of the statement and its’ contents. We also included the following comments in our submission: The need to be mindful of language usage in the Statement in particular for Aboriginal and Torres Strait…

This was prepared for the Safety and Quality Partnership Subcommittee of the Australian Health Minister’s Advisory Council, Mental Health Standing Committee. HCA will be working with the national consultants, Craze Lateral Solutions, to conduct South Australian consultations in May 2012. We will advertise these as the date approaches. For more information please contact HCA Senior Project Officer, Angelina Edwards on 08 8231 4169 or at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Richard Fletcher is a father and Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Health, University of Newcastle The idea that mental illness can harm family relationships is not new. But it’s usually the mother’s parenting that has been the centre of attention. An article he co-wrote in the Medical Journal of Australia breaks new ground by highlighting how important having a mentally well father can be for a child’s development. The effect of growing up with a father…

In its latest update, the Primary Health Care Research and Information Service (better known as PHCRIS) reports on research that may be of particular interest to pet-lovers. This article was published on Crikey.com.au. Read more here. Pets and mental health: the relationship is not so straightforward Bradley Smith writes: Ever wondered if your pet is good for your mental health? Researchers conducted a questionnaire study of 150 adult Australians in order to explore the connection…

A global perspective on the facilitators and barriers to mental health reform has been published in PLoS Medicine, by South African researchers: Why Does Mental Health Not Get the Attention It Deserves? An Application of the Shiffman and Smith Framework. It examines why mental illness has not achieved visibility, policy attention, or funding, particularly in low and middle income countries, relative to its impact. This article was published on Crikey.com.au. Read more here.

The establishment of a new national mental health consumer organisation has moved a step closer, with the Gillard Government focused firmly on ensuring it will be driven by consumers, for consumers. Minister for Mental Health and Ageing, Mark Butler, announced this week the establishment of a new Consumer Reference Group which will assist in setting the directions of the new organisation and setting up mechanisms to involve consumers from the beginning. The Group will be…

Health Consumers Alliance (HCA) is the not-for-profit peak body for health consumers in South Australia. HCA considers health consumers to be community members who are, have been or are potential users of health services. HCA is membership driven and as such as is directed by a management committee elected from its membership. As a peak body HCA's role is to promote and advocate its members interests. HCA has chosen to do this in relation to…