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People who use Darling Downs Community Care Unit are achieving very positive outcomes – and Mind and Darling Downs Health are planning to make it even better.

The organisations recently held a workshop together to identify opportunities to continuously improve service delivery and help service users achieve the best possible outcomes. Key among these were supporting and promoting service users’ physical health goals and developing a localised model of care that reflects the needs of the Toowoomba community.

The workshop was also an opportunity to reflect on shared success and the shift over time from a clinical/medicalised model to recovery-oriented practices. Service users who have been supported by the CCU team also shared their experiences of their transition from long-term inpatient care to living in the community.

Mind Australia and Darling Downs Health have worked in partnership for over five years to deliver the long-term inpatient mental health care program based in Toowoomba, Queensland. It helps people who are experiencing severe and persistent mental health challenges to set individual recovery goals so that they can progress towards living independently.

It’s great to have this evidence base that shows us – and service users – the positive outcomes they are achieving.
- Mary Streatfield, General Manager, Queensland Operations

It is a collaborative and flexible partnership. Mind’s community mental health and peer practitioners provide psychosocial support – helping people to manage daily activities, rebuild and maintain connections, engage with education and employment and participate fully in the community. Darling Downs Health’s clinical health team offer extended stays, 24/7 support, assessments and psychiatrist reviews, and medication education.

Mind’s General Manager of Queensland Operations Mary Streatfield said there is a well-established link between mental and physical wellbeing, and service users often nominate physical health as a key focus area.

“We believe there are opportunities to better support service users to improve their physical health by incorporating physical health needs in NDIS plans, developing partnerships in the community to enable access to gyms and fitness facilities, promoting healthy diet options during group activities and events, as well as holding the space for more frequent and robust conversations about medications and their impact on diet and physical health,” Ms Streatfield said.

“We [Mind and Darling Downs Health] also discussed a review of the CCU’s referral criteria to ensure the support we provide is reflecting the needs of the local community. This will entail the development of localised service guidelines, clarifying the type of care we provide and the level of support offered to residents, and clearly defined roles and responsibilities for team members.

“These are just some opportunities we are looking to implement to best support people experiencing mental health challenges in Toowoomba, and to help them achieve their recovery goals.”

The Darling Downs CCU provides fully self-contained units to support up to 24 residents with round the clock access to onsite clinical staff. 

Mind’s outcomes measures report for the Darling Downs CCU demonstrates consistently positive improvements for people who access the service. The report provides an overview of service users’ mental wellbeing, recovery and feedback.

Some key findings were:

  • On average, service users reported a 12% improvement in mental wellbeing from entry compared to exit
  • On average a service user’s ability to set and accomplish goals improved by 17%.
  • More than 85% of residents felt safe, listened to and respected.

“It’s great to have this evidence base that shows us – and service users – the positive outcomes they are achieving, but workshops like this with our clinical partners help us provide even better support into the future,” Ms Streatfield said.

For more information about Mind support services near you, visit the Mind service finder or phone 1300 286 463.

If this article raises concerns for you, please call Lifeline on 13 11 14. Aboriginal and Torres Straits Islanders can also call 13 YARN (13 92 76) a 24/7 national crisis support telephone service staffed by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. 
If you would like more information, please contact us.

1300 286 463 
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