Project overview
Mind Australia is trialling the delivery of a time-limited, 12-24 month residential based recovery-orientated peer learning support program to participants with a significant psychosocial disability.
The project focuses on a personal and shared recovery model that aims to improve access to community mental health services and supports participants in developing their informal and community supports networks.
Through these measures, the project will help participants to build their capacity and confidence to transition to mainstream housing where they can achieve a greater level of independence.
Provider story
Mind Australia’s project shows the importance of giving participants with psychosocial disability access to capacity building supports within their residential accommodation.
This complements their mental health and wellbeing supports provided by mainstream services.
This allows participants to build their capacity with the goal to move into more self-supporting accommodation.
Greater independence within the home is a key interest for participants working with Mind Australia. The project consists of a 12-24 month accommodation arrangement for up to 12 people.
It gives practical support for daily living activities and better access to mainstream community supports which helps to enhance functionality and build skills.
Key to improving functionality and wellbeing is the project’s Community Mental Health Peer Practitioners.
By connecting participants with Peer Practitioners who have shared lived experience, participants see real-life examples of recovery success.
Mind Australia Executive Director, Mark Heeney says ‘The introduction of recovery-oriented peer learning activities has been an essential part of the demonstration project.
By using their own experiences to support others, peer workers have helped residents build capacity, confidence and independence’.
Mind Australia says their project has continued to go through a process of reviewing, adapting, and changing as issues surface.
They work closely with participants to establish their individual support program goals and identify how these goals are best achieved by each participant based on their existing skills and circumstances.
This project gives participants the tools and resources to help identify how they can get the most out of their plan, build their capacity and achieve their goals of greater independence.