By Danielle Kutchel
Cardinia Shire is experiencing a shortfall of critical services to address mental health services in the region.
That’s according to Cardinia Shire Council’s Collective Submission to the Victorian Royal Commission into Mental Health.
The submission is a group effort made by the council along with eight mental health service agencies from Cardinia’s Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategic Leadership Group, including Uniting, EACH, Monash Health, Windermere, Wayss Ermha, and Wellways.
In its submission the group noted that 35 percent of residents felt that mental health, support and counselling services were not currently available but would make their lives easier if they were.
Fifteen percent of adults in Cardinia are experiencing high or very high psychological distress, compared with 12.5 percent of Victorians, and 19 percent of adults have reduced their work, study or daily activities as a result compared with 15 percent of Victorians.
The shire has a lower rate of psychologists, pharmacists, occupational therapists and physiotherapists for every 1000 people than the Melbourne metropolitan area.
Cardinia is also currently experiencing an influx of youth-related mental health challenges.
The submission noted that residents in Cardinia Shire are facing a number of challenges that could contribute to mental health issues, including inadequate infrastructure for mental health and community services, insufficient transport options, insufficient early intervention services and infrastructure not keeping pace with population growth.
Excessive commute times, mortgage and rental stress all add to feelings of anxiety, the report said.
Cultural and linguistic diversity, and financial vulnerability, were listed as factors that could create barriers to accessing mental health services, along with poverty and insecure housing.
Additionally, long wait lists and high costs are putting residents off seeking assistance with their mental health. This can result in more people presenting to emergency departments in crisis instead.
According to the submission, residents are often forced to go to Dandenong to obtain mental health services. It stated this should be considered “unreasonable”.
“Allied health services should be available within your own municipality without the requirement to travel or commute excessive durations,” the report states.
To address issues of poverty and insecure housing the report proposes a Housing First model, whereby safe and permanent housing would be the first priority, followed by assistance from a multidisciplinary team of support workers to address mental health and other issues.
The report recommended more investment in locally based services and a focus on an outreach, “based in your neighbourhood” model for mental health services, as well as funding for infrastructure and a partnership with the State Government and other shires to establish a joint mental health plan that would address specific local issues.
Service hubs could allow providers to co-locate and provide a collaborative, integrated and streamlined approach to mental health care.
A ‘new residents pack’ has been floated as a potential way of promoting services and providers to locals, distributed through GPs, the council, libraries and developers among others.
Social inclusion programs, which could be included in the suggested pack, can assist people living with mental illness to connect with the community, the report said.
Education was also identified as being a critically important means of taking a preventative approach to mental health.
The submission noted the impact of exercise on good mental health and referenced an Icelandic program that focused on promoting a ‘natural high’ to youth through activities like music, sport, dance and art. It suggested that a similar project could be implemented in Victoria.
A Humans of New York style campaign telling the stories of people living with a mental health condition to break the stigma surrounding mental health was also proposed.
Lastly, the submission urged the Commission to not underestimate the impact of isolation on growing communities like Cardinia.
“High growth area, small block sizes, inadequate community spaces and a large culturally and linguistically diverse population leads to lack of social cohesion and connection. Greater investment is required in a broader community development approach,” it read.
Doug Paroissien, general manager youth and homelessness services at Wayss, acknowledged the stretch that mental health and other services were feeling in Cardinia Shire.
He said Wayss was seeing a lot of people presenting with both diagnosed and undiagnosed mental health issues which affected their ability to access housing.
“Cardinia could certainly use more resources to be able to address the ever-growing mental health demand,” he said.
“We’re seeing longer wait periods that I’ve ever known in my time in the sector.”
He said Wayss wanted to see a cohesive mental health system that works in partnership with other services.
Mental health was identified as one of the most significant priorities for Cardinia Shire Council within its Liveability Plan 2017-2029.
