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a) Canberra Medicare Mental Health Centre
Free Medicare Mental Health Centre sites (previously known as Head to Health) operate around Australia and offer an entry point for adults to access a range of mental health services, without needing an appointment or referral. These services address fragmentation in the mental health service system and enhance local service integration to offer a seamless care pathway for consumers to receive the right level of care, at the right time, to meet their mental health needs.
Canberra Medicare Mental Health Centre provides accessible, person-centred, high-quality care to support adults. This includes immediate support or de-escalation for people in distress, including those at heightened risk of suicide, to reduce the need for Emergency Department attendance. Appropriate warm hand-over to acute services for crisis management is provided, when necessary.
The program aims to reduce risk and demand for these acute services by providing timely person-centred support for people experiencing situational or emotional distress. This includes providing a safe place to present in distress and offering continued contact and follow-up support through an episode of care model, until individuals are either in recovery or connected to services to meet their ongoing needs. Digital assistance is also available through a phone service and online enquiries. In addition, Canberra Medicare Mental Health Centre (MMHC) maintained close referral relationships with local emergency, acute and front-line services to allow ease of access when needed and ensure safety for clients and staff.
In recognition of ongoing demand and, often, complexity of those accessing intake services, additional resources were allocated to the phone service during recent months. Additional projects and expansion of high demand services were also undertaken, such as additional Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) training and support, including specialised supervision, and a ‘summer school’ DBT program to support consumers during a period with typically less available services. The MMHC has continued to provide much sought after assessment and referral services to a broad range of ACT individuals, along with a range of intervention services provided to those with moderate to high needs. While digital options are offered, 80% of initial assessments were performed in person at the MMHC. The numbers of consumers coming through the service indicates its profile is growing and the service is addressing an unmet community need, with 2,171 contacts, 4,913 sessions and 334 psychiatry appointments being provided over the last year.
Client story
Aditi* (not her real name) presented at Canberra Medicare Mental Health Centre and engaged with the intake team who completed an Initial Assessment and Referral using the Initial Assessment and Referral Decision Support Tool. Aditi presented with symptoms of acute stress, distress and low mood, following a violent incident. They received a comprehensive mental health assessment with a Mental Health Clinician, with a diagnosis of acute Adjustment Disorder.
Aditi completed 16 sessions of standard psychological therapy, with a trauma-informed cognitive behaviour therapy approach, incorporating mindfulness exercises. The Clinician liaised with Victims Support ACT to ensure that Aditi would have ongoing therapeutic supports at the end of her episode of care. Aditi expressed a desire to engage with more social supports in the community. The Clinician facilitated a warm referral to the ACT Walking for pleasure group, which Aditi found to be a good fit for their needs.
At the completion of the episode of care, Aditi reported marked improvement in their distress and range of symptoms. This improvement was reflected in their responses on the standard outcome measures and daily functioning and hopefulness for the future. Aditi was appreciative of the service she received at Head to Health reporting it to be “fabulous.” The discharge plan for Aditi was that she would continue engaging with ongoing support through Victims Support and the ACT Walking for Pleasure group, and to re-engage with Head to Health if required in the future.
b) Tuggeranong Medicare Mental Health Centre
Mental health and wellbeing continue to pose major challenges for the ACT, affecting individuals, communities, services and systems. In the 2020-2022 National Study of Mental Health and Wellbeing, 45.7% of ACT residents had been diagnosed with a mental health condition at some point in their lifetime, while 25.5% had experienced a mental health disorder in the last 12 months. Some of these ACT residents remain unable to receive the right care to meet their individual needs, due to accessibility challenges and difficulty navigating the complex mental health system.
In 2023, the Commonwealth Government announced funding for the establishment of a second Medicare Mental Health Centre (MMHC) (formerly Head to Health) in the ACT. MMHCs are designed to address fragmentation in the mental health service system and enhance local service integration to offer a seamless care pathway for consumers to receive the right level of care, at the right time, to meet their mental health needs. Following a needs assessment process, Tuggeranong was selected as the location for the new MMHC, with the aim of improving access to mental health services in the Tuggeranong region. Building off the success of the Canberra MMHC (formerly Canberra Head to Health), which was established in 2021, the Tuggeranong MMHC will ensure that more Canberrans can access mental health support and have their needs met.
Over the last year, CHN initiated planning and development activities to support the establishment of the new Tuggeranong MMHC, including early consultation, connecting with a working group to explore local community needs, exploring opportunities for co-location, site search processes, and commencement of procurement processes for a lead agency for the service. Tuggeranong MMHC will provide an accessible and highly visible entry point to services for people experiencing psychological distress, including person-centred, high-quality, and culturally safe assessment, navigation support and mental health interventions. The Tuggeranong MMHC is expected to commence service delivery by the end of 2024.