CEO Update from Mental Health Australia: Attitudes and impact

Attitudes and impact

In the ‘90s and 2000’s I worked in child and adolescent mental health settings as an occupational therapist and family therapist. Over time I met with more and more families where the young person was struggling with an eating disorder. I recall one young woman who was shocked and bewildered to find the extent to which the illness had taken over her life and that of her family. She curled up on the floor of the therapy room and sobbed. Her relief that she could share the burden of her struggle which, had until that time been going on in her own self-imposed ‘lockdown’ was palpable. 

The courage and strength of those young people to fight the control of the illness has always stayed with me, as has the commitment of many families to participate in the journey to healing, whatever it costs them.

I went on to Chair the Board of Eating Disorders Victoria until I moved to Canberra. This week the CEO Belinda Caldwell advised that “There’s going to be a tail-end to this crisis that’s going to linger well beyond the opening up of all our freedoms. Demand for eating disorder services continues to grow and the lack of access to specialist clinicians in regional areas is a serious issue.”

Also this week there was a documentary, “What Do Australians Really Think About Obesity?” broadcast on SBS TV and the show aired the results of a national survey on attitudes towards larger bodied Australians.

Eating Disorders Queensland, Butterfly Foundation, Eating Disorders Victoria, and Eating Disorders Families Australia, in conjunction with Health at Every Size (HAES) Australia commended SBS for raising awareness of weight stigma.

Mental Health Australia joins them in this and in concern that the survey results will potentially cause unintended harm. Thanks to the eating disorders community for reminding us all that:

• A particularly vulnerable group of people are higher weight people with eating disorders; these eating disorders are no less serious than people who are underweight.

• Heightened awareness of negative attitudes towards higher weight people could worsen mental health, at this particularly difficult period during the ongoing pandemic and lockdowns.

• Your body is not a problem that needs to be fixed. Reducing the impact of weight stigma and discrimination will have positive consequences; we need an inclusive society that values all bodies equally without pathologising larger body sizes. This would meaningfully reduce the number of Australians living with eating disorders and body dissatisfaction.

• The word “obesity” in itself is stigmatising and is based off a flawed system of health, the “body mass index” or BMI. Consider using less pathologising terms such as “larger body” or “higher weight”.

Findings from a UK study by Branley-Bell and Talbot (2020) has found that “the pandemic is having a profound, negative impact upon individuals with experience of eating disorders. The results suggest detrimental impacts on psychological wellbeing including decreased feelings of control, increased feelings of social isolation, increased rumination about disordered eating, and low feelings of social support.”

Those whose lives are challenged by eating disorders are in our minds this week.

Have a good weekend.


Leanne Beagley
CEO



Become a World Mental Health Partner this October - And it’s FREE

To become a partner for the upcoming World Mental Health Day campaign, and receive a FREE Partner Pack including the chance to record your own campaign video, please email nikki.hogan@mhaustralia.org or find out more on the World Mental Health Day website.

 

Co-producing Lived Experience Leadership resources - a new partnership in mental health

The National Mental Health Consumer and Carer Forum (NMHCCF) and the National PHN Mental Health Lived Experience Engagement Network (MHLEEN) have established a formal partnership and MOU to co-contribute and co-produce mental health lived experience (consumers, carers and peer workers) leadership capacity resources.

The rationale for these projects is that an increasingly significant feature of the contemporary mental health policy environment is lived experience co-production and leadership.  The projects aim to consolidate and promote existing initiatives and resources to facilitate effective growth of mental health lived experience voices and leadership.

The three projects have NMHCCF and MHLEEN members on project steering groups. The projects are:

  1. The establishment a central national repository of mental health consumer and carer leadership-related knowledge and initiatives to be included on the NMHCCF website
  2. The co-design of a Mental Health Lived Experience Governance Framework and Toolkit to guide identified priority organisations and jurisdictions when engaging with people with lived experience, and
  3. Review of formal lived experience leadership education and training

The projects are due for completion in mid-2022. Further information on these projects can be obtained from the NMHCCF Secretariat at: nmhccf@mhaustralia.org

Further information about the NMHCCF can be found at: www.nmhccf.org.au and further information about MHLEEN can be found at: https://mymentalhealth.org.au/consumers-and-carers/mental-health-lived-experience-engagement-network-mhleen

NEXT WEEK

On Monday I have been invited to give evidence to the Senate Inquiry on the Disability Support Pension and on Tuesday I have a meeting with the Co-Chairs of the National Mental Health Consumer and Carer Forum and we are also completing interviews together for a new Manager, Lived Experience Programs. 

On Wednesday we have our regular meeting with Mark Roddam and team at the Department of Health and later I have the Taskforce for the National Mental Health Workforce Strategy. 

On Friday I have a CEO Forum at the NDIA and later will be speaking to the Board of Youth Projects WA as part of their strategic planning work.

 

Member Benefits, Jobs and Profiles

Communicate your news, job vacancies, or upcoming events to more than 5,000 people in the mental health ecosystem weekly.

Mental Health Australia members are invited to send us news, announcements, job vacancies, events or other notices for inclusion in the Weekly CEO Update newsletter. To do so, simply fill out this form by COB each Wednesday for your notice to appear in the newsletter the following Friday.


Member Profiles

National LGBTI Health Alliance
National LGBTI Health Alliance is the national peak health organisation in Australia for organisations and individuals that provide health-related programs, services and research focused on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people (LGBTI) and other sexuality, gender, and bodily diverse people and communities.


Centacare Catholic Family Services
Centacare Catholic Family Services strive to support people in the community who have been marginalised and who are experiencing hardships and challenges in their lives. For the past 74 years, Centacare has worked to help people reach their full potential so they can participate in the community, regardless of their circumstances. Today this commitment underpins the 80 community services they deliver in 35 sites across the Catholic Archdiocese of Adelaide, in metropolitan and regional South Australia.

 

Embrace Multicultural Mental Health News

Translated resources for R U OK? Day

R U OK? has translated key resources you can use if you or someone you know would prefer to get information in a language other than English. 
Which resources have been translated?

  • A Conversation Guide

  • ‘How to Ask Tip Sheet’ outlining what you might say during an R U OK? conversation.

  • ‘4 Steps Poster’ outlining the 4 steps to an R U OK? conversation.

  • A4 Posters 

You can download these resources here:

Embrace Australia logo (a rectangle with a light and dark purple cultural stripe pattern with "embrace" and stylised outline of the Australian continent in the lower right corner).

 

Mental Health News

Canberrans in need receive additional mental health support during lockdown

In recognition that lockdown is challenging, the ACT Government is extending a range of existing mental health support services to Ken Behrens in significant need. Minister for Mental Health Emma Davidson said the last lockdown period revealed six specific groups of Canberrans with particular mental health support needs. Read more


Subsidised GP training to boost access to mental health care across Australia

The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) is welcoming a new subsidy for GPs to undertake Focussed Psychological Strategies Skills Training (FPS ST). The support is timely, as Australia is grappling with a mental health crisis made worse by the COVID-19 pandemic and multiple lockdowns. Read more


Gathering new data to help our mental health workforce

The Victorian Government is delivering on a key recommendation made by the Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System – collecting and expanding data on the mental health workforce to help reshape the system. The state’s specialist mental health workforce is being encouraged to participate in a census that will help the Victorian Government understand how best to meet workforce needs for the future and will collate vital information about the workforce across all locations, disciplines, settings and sub-specialties. Read more


Suicide and self-harm monitoring website data update - data from suicide registers 

The reporting of suicide and self-harm statistics and information on the AIHW website represents only one part of the National Suicide and Self-harm Monitoring Project. The Suicide and self-harm monitoring website includes interactive data visualisations and geospatial mapping to illustrate and explore the statistics as well as text to assist with their interpretation and clarification of the limitations of the data.  Read more


Have your say on Victoria’s new mental health system

Victorians are being invited to have their say about the local mental health services they want to see as the Andrews Labor Government delivers a key recommendation of the Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System. The development of new Local Adult and Older Adult Mental Health and Wellbeing Services is at the heart of the mental health reform ─ allowing Victorians to get the care they need much sooner, and closer to their families and communities. Read more 


Access to COVID-19 digital certificate

Consumers can now get their COVID-19 digital certificate from My Health Record to show proof of their COVID-19 vaccinations. The digital certificate will become available once their vaccination provider has reported all required doses of an approved COVID-19 vaccine to the Australian Immunisation Register (AIR). Consumers can already get an immunisation history statement from their record to show proof of all vaccinations recorded on the AIR, including COVID-19 vaccinations. These documents are also available for non-Medicare eligible consumers who have a My Health Record. For more information, see Getting proof of vaccination from My Health Record


Australian Human Rights Commission’s IncludeAbility website launch 

The IncludeAbility initiative aims to promote and champion meaningful employment for people with disability. The employment of people with disability is a critical human rights issue and benefits individuals with disability, employers and the entire community. Employers of choice are inclusive and diverse. Read more


NSW Government funding delivers mental health support for international students

International students in NSW will have access to a new digital mental health and wellbeing toolkit, as one of a number of programs that will enhance employability, entrepreneurship and research and development skills, thanks to $360,000 in funding from the NSW Government to support the sector. Deputy Premier and Minister for Trade and Industry John Barilaro said the Partner Project funding from Study NSW will support the future of international education in NSW, an industry that has been hit hard during the COVID-19 pandemic. Read more

 

Reminders 

AASW seeking Abstracts for Posters

The Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW) is seeking Abstracts for Posters from social workers, students or other industry professionals for the 26th Asia-Pacific Regional Social Work Conference 2021.  The Conference will be delivered exclusively online and broadcast to a live audience. Abstracts for Poster Presentations close on Saturday, 25 September 2021. For successful submissions, the AASW will provide you with a one hour dedicated session on Thursday, 11 November (afternoon/evening) for presenting your Poster in a LIVE environment.  Read more

Barriers Disability Support Pension access for people with psychiatric impairments and their experiences on JobSeeker payment

The University of Notre Dame Australia, in collaboration with Economic Justice Australia and the Welfare Rights Centre New South Wales have combined to present a report into barriers Disability Support Pension access for people with psychiatric impairments and their experiences on JobSeeker payment. The report examines the experiences of people with psychiatric disability on JobSeeker Payment who are applying for the Disability Support Pension (DSP), or appealing refusal, and are trying to meet their mutual obligations for JobSeeker Payment (formerly Newstart Allowance) in the interim. Read more


IMHA Facilitating Self-Advocacy for the NDIS Training Package

Sign up for a free online interactive ‘Train the Trainer’ program for NDIS service providers and other mental health professionals assisting people who may be eligible to access, or are accessing, the NDIS under the psychosocial disability stream.  Graduates of this training will be able to run workshops with their colleagues or consumers on ‘Self-Advocacy for the NDIS’, as well as provide one-on-one support to consumers to advocate for what they need. To sign up, please click this link 

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