HISTORY OF

THE ANXIETY DISORDERS ASSOCIATION SOUTH EAST INCORPORATED

A.D.A.S.E.

Anxiety Disorders South East (ADASE) was founded by Mrs. Helen Williams in 1995 when she identified a need for support to anxiety sufferers. ADASE has had a presence in the South East Region for 15 years. It has provided information sessions regarding a broad range of anxiety disorders.

 Initially Dr. Malcolm Battersby from Flinders Medical Centre for Anxiety & Related Disorders (CARD) along with Helen Williams was instrumental in organising a seminar for doctors to improve their education on Anxiety Disorders & Depression

From this education seminar The South East Division of General Practice  (now know as The Limestone Division of General Practice )were able to gain government funding to continue the education of doctors, hence the ( PROSEAD ) Project South East Anxiety Disorders was implemented.

This project is no longer active as the participants have now left the South East Region.

Later information sessions by ADASE were facilitated by Mr. Robert Tomlian, a visiting Psychologist to the region.

Mr. Tomlian has done a wonderful job providing information around anxiety and depression assisting consumers to identify with key issues

ADASE has also provided telephone counselling on an as needs basis by Mrs. Williams

in her own premises for the past 15 years.

Australia Day Citizen of the Year award for 2009 was presented to the Founder of ADASE Mrs Helen Williams on Australia Day 26^th January 2009 for her dedication and commitment in raising awareness and assisting the community of the Limestone Coast area who have been affected by anxiety disorders and depression.

FUTURE

ADASE is very much aware that whilst the service it has been providing has addressed a need, there is also a growing need to provide a self sustaining anxiety disorders group within the community. Whilst the services provided by Mr. Tomlian were excellent he is not able to support an individual’s recovery due to his being located in Adelaide.

Unfortunately the South East region does not have a resident Psychiatrist .

In view of this fact and the costs incurred by transporting Mr. Tomlian to the region ADASE has decided to attempt to expand it’s service into becoming an organisation that can provide a range of programs to clients diagnosed with high prevalence disorders such as anxiety and depression.

WHO WE ARE

ADASE is a small voluntary committee consisting of several recovered consumers, two Social Workers and Patron Mr Stan Thompson from 5 SE Radio.

SE Mental Health Services have provided in the past  a Social Worker to assist us, and in turn gain knowledge from the group, but this support has been withdrawn due to time off incurred by the way of toil for the social worker, which then had a direct effect on the remaining staff at mental health.

FORWARD

Whilst the founder of ADASE has always recognised the need for a support service there is also an increasing recognition that people with High Prevalence disorders require easy access to a range of services and as such this is not currently provided by our Community Health Service in the region.

According to the ABS ‘Mental Health and Wellbeing Profile of Adults South Australia 1997’, 17.3% of the total population suffer from a mental health condition. Of this figure, 9.9% suffer from an anxiety disorder. Applying these proportions to the South East population, it could be surmised that, approximately 11,000 people suffer from a mental health issue, 6,300 with an anxiety disorder.

PROGRAMS

In 2007 ADASE developed A Great Step Forward program which is a two part program and consists of:

·         BASIC PROGRAM (A Great Step Forward part 1Basic Program).

This program is a 3 hour program aimed at educating and creating awareness of the individual around issues of anxiety and depression. It outlines some management skills using imagery and self help tools to assist in lessening the impact of Mental Illness.

 A Great Step Forward part 2:Mind Over Mood is a 11 week  program that has been developed from a consumers prospective using the manual Mind Over Mood.

For those that wish to continue with part 2, then this is based on the “Mind over Mood “Manual. This program is provided by a recovered consumer assisted by a health professional.

The program is recovery based and orientated, providing the client with information around:-

• Understanding of thoughts, moods, and feelings.
• Provision of skills to enable the client to see how these thoughts interact and impact into their own life.
• Cognitive Therapy around dealing with thoughts.

PEER SUPPORT

ADASE is able to offer Peer Support to clients who would like to work on a more individual level. We have trained Peer Support Workers with lived experience of, Panic Disorder, Social phobia, specific phobia, generalised anxiety disorder and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Depression.

Friends For Life Program designed for pre-school, primary and secondary aged children, this program was launched in July 2009 as a complementary program to a year 4 level at a private school in Mt Gambier. This program was well received by parent’s students and teachers. Proceeds were kindly donated from the Police Credit Union Easter raffle to support ADASE with the launch of the Friends For Life program in raising awareness of anxiety disorders in school aged children.

We understand the complexity of high prevalence disorders and especially the difficulties which face consumers accessing services. This is also exacerbated by the difficulties faced by consumers residing in a country area. By providing A Great Step Forward Program we hope to provide a smooth journey for consumers across services and assist in consumer advocacy.

LINKS AND PARTNERSHIPS

ADASE is affiliated with:

• Centre for Anxiety Related Disorders (CARD) Professor Malcolm Battersby at Sothern Mental Health Services Adelaide.

ADASE has strong links with:

• Flinders University Rural Clinical School of Medicine, Professor Lucie Walters
• Beyond Blue have ADASE linked as a service provider, this is directly linked from their web site to ADASE web site to assist people in the South east area affected by anxiety and depression.

ADASE is looking to form links and partnerships to:-

• Assist in training
• Develop Further Programs
• Gain Funding for future service provision
• Assist smooth consumer journey across service continuum
• Provide most cost effective and efficicient service provision
• Assist in linking all facets of service provision i.e. General Practice, Non Government and Government Organisations.

GAINS TO FAMILY AND COMMUNITIES

We are aware that mental illness can impact on all facets of an individual’s life. By assisting consumers with anxiety disorders we hope to optimise the consumers recovery journey and enable use of community services to be as cost efficient and effective as possible .In providing support to the individual to properly access services such as:-

• Legal Services
• Carers/Family
• Centrelink services
• Education Services etc.

We hope to provide a smoother pathway for client recovery. This will enable a greater level of resilience and assist the individual to maintain a better sense of wellbeing. We aim to provide education and information to improve self – esteem and healthy lifestyles

which will in turn, lessen the impact on families and service providers.

High prevalence mental health disorders tend to be maintained in a “revolving door” approach. By providing a service specifically tailored to anxiety disorders we hope to interrupt this cycle and lessen the total burden of the illness.

FUTURE

ADASE hopes in the future to:-

·         Develop Programs specifically tailored at carers.

·         Assist all consumers to develop an appropriate care plan and relapse prevention plan.

·         Develop evidence based evaluation of our services.

If successful in achieving these goals we would then look to broadening service provision to include the wider South East Region.

FUNDING

It is imperative that as an organisation we look towards all funding opportunities, as the impact of these disorders affect every level of society. Whilst we are a small voluntary organisation at present we would look forward into growing into a service provider that is sustainable and able to meet the needs of individuals across the South East Region.

Partnerships with Service Providers:

• Centre for Anxiety Related Disorders (CARD)  Professor Malcolm Battersby at Southern Mental Health Services
• Beyond Blue
• Lifeline,
• Centrelink
• South East Regional Community Health Service
• Dr Lucie Walters (Flinders University Rural Clinical School of Medicine)
• Professor Gavin Andrews, St Vincent’s Hospital NSW
• Dr Nick Titov Senior Research Developer School of Psychiatry NSW
• Limestone Coast Division General Practice.
• Robert Tomlian Psychologist
• Dr Harry Hustig
• Professor Paula Barrett Pathways Trust (Friends For Life Program).
• Liz Moriarty & Associates
• Griffith University Professor Paula Barrett (Friends For Life)
• Mc Phee Andrew Arthur & Associates
• South East Drug & Alcohol Service
• South East Domestic Violence Service
• Employment access
• Interwork
• Job Find,
• TAFE,
• Uniting Care Wesley
• Anglican Community Care
• Commonwealth Rehabilitation Services etc
• Job Solutions.
• Campbell Page & Associates.
• Mind
• Magistrates William Morris Court Magistrate
• Pangula Mannamurna Inc
• SA Works
• Mt Gambier City Council
• District Council of Grant.
• Win TV.

The launch of A Great Step Forward the Basic Programme was held on 29^th February 2008 to workers of many of these organisations to allow insight into client’s diverse and possibly complex needs. From here ADASE has offered they to be contracted to the various organisations to run the A Great Step Forward Program, Basic programme and the 11week Mind Over Mood Program.

Following on from these program clients will have the opportunity of linking in with St Vincent’s Hospital NSW through ADASE where we will directly link the consumer via the internet for a CBT course on Social Phobia and other anxiety disorders if required.

On an individual level ADASE has formed links with Dr Malcolm Battersby at Flinders University to provide education to Doctors in the region and support our organisation.

Psychologist Robert Tomlian and Psychiatrist Dr Harry Hustig have offered to see clients of ADASE in Adelaide and Bulk bill for services as we do not at this present time have resident psychiatrist in the region.

Whilst ADASE is clearly in its early stages of service delivery we have made some amazing gains by being able to access Professional Indemnity Insurance by a donation made by a member of the Mount Gambier Community, and further ongoing assistance from the Mt Gambier City Council and District Council of Grant.

The enthusiasm and support from organisations and individuals has been nothing short of amazing.

South Australian Mental Health Sharing Excellence 2009

On June 17^th ADASE has been chosen to present at this high profile conference to show case what we have been able to achieve with the development of A Great Step Forward program. ADASE has been identified as leading the way in mental health with this unique program and the amazing results from the 97 participants that have completed this unique program.

Social Inclusion Report Recommendations.

1. People with a mental illness who are consumers of the states mental health services should participate at all levels of the system. This will require innovative ways of ensuring their meaningful involvement in planning, organising and evaluating services.

2. The carers and families of consumers must be seen as partners in the care process. They should be included in care planning processes, with the agreement of the consumer, and receive timely and appropriate information and support.

 6. The South Australian Mental Health System should adopt a recovery orientation                                                                                                  that is focussed on helping people dealing with a mental illness to live a satisfying, hopeful and contributing life.

7. The principles of recovery should be translated into the organisational cultural norms and behaviours that must apply across the system.

 12. In designing and implementing the reforms of community health services, it is essential that the department of Health pay particular attention to the unique circumstances of country South Australia. This should be defined in the catchment area and in tithe functioning of the clinical networking, as well as in the community teams themselves and the Rural and Remote Mental Health Service.

13. South Australia should invest in facility and non-facility based intermediate care as an integral part of a stepped system of care.

14. Intermediate care should provide holistic nurse-led care. It should be planned, managed and evaluated on the basis of increasing responsiveness and choice for consumers, reducing the state’s reliance on acute and emergency or unplanned admissions and, in collaboration with community mental health services, effective management of the pathways between hospital and home.

19. South Australia should continue to build the capacity in the non- government sector to deliver psychosocial rehabilitation and support services. The development should be framed within a partnership approach that builds on a system that will have a community mental health its centre.

20. South Australia should reassess its current investment in services provided by non-government organisations, based on evidence from the evaluation that is due for completion in early 2007. A new and more rigorous contracting process that builds on the concepts of the stepped system is warranted. Rehabilitation and support services should be focussed on helping people to step down from formal care to maintaining ordinary associations in society that support a meaningful life.

23. The Department of Health should negotiate private practice rights for psychologists to enhance their career development and support and recruitment and retention. Other allied health professionals should be encouraged to negotiate similar private practice rights.

24. The Department of Health should establish a job redesign strategy for the mental health system across the continuum of activity from incremental change in existing roles, to designing new jobs that support a mental health system that puts people first and is recovery oriented.

41. In planning for the implementation of the Board’s recommendations, the Department of Health must ensure that consumers, carers and families have meaningful input at all levels.

Kind Regards,

Helen Williams

……………………..

C.E.O.