CASE STUDY

Wellways

In 2023, ACSO partnered with Wellways and Albury Wodonga Health (AWH) to create the Benalla-Wangaratta-Mansfield Mental Health and Wellbeing Local. With its strong local community connections and collaborative nature – with each of the organisations being uniquely qualified to provide invaluable support to clients – this synergetic Local has been lauded for its distinctive philosophy towards treating mental health and addiction.

“Wellways, ACSO and AWH have worked so hard to establish one of the flagship reforms of the Mental Health Transformation effort. It has been one of the highlights of my 35 year career to play a part in working to establish this collaborative arrangement.”

– Stuart McIntosh

Coming together to treat communities

The Benalla, Wangaratta and Mansfield Mental Health and Wellbeing Local is an accessible mental health care service, which is led by lived experience, trauma-informed care, and the needs of the local community.

The Local provides care, support, and connection to appropriate services for those experiencing mental health challenges, psychological distress, addiction, and recovery.

Listening to community

In creating the Local, Wellways, AWH and ACSO worked with and listened to local communities to build how the service would function.

The Local prides itself on providing a new way of doing things, and listening to what people – and the community as a whole – truly need. Local staff know that if participants facing mental health and addiction challenges remain connected to their community, it’s of enormous benefit to their treatment and recovery.

After initial discussion and support is provided, staff work together with the client to connect them with the wider service providers in the community, depending on which types of support they may need – for example, medical and allied health services, alcohol and other drug services, housing, family violence and employment services.

“It’s good because I felt like I was listened to, and the areas I needed help in, is where I am getting the help”

– Participant

The main goal of the Local is to provide an initial point of contact for any member of the community that needs help with their mental health; an approachable door for the community to feel comfortable opening when they need help or support. The philosophy of the Local is that regardless of gender, ethnicity, sexuality, ability or reason for distress, no one gets turned away and no one gets left behind.

The simple question

The ethos of the Local is that every client has a unique story to be listened to, and that their needs and expectations of support will be different to the next person to walk through their doors. Our experienced Mental Health workers create a safe, inclusive, and welcoming space, where the philosophy of their care is based on asking clients, ‘How can we help?’.

The simplicity of this question allows staff to think deeper about how they can genuinely help the person in front of them, and work with them to find a tailored solution that provides treatment and access to the services they need most.

By providing support to treat root cause(s) and combinations of issues, rather than just the initial visible symptoms, it helps the client to create a more sustainable and stable treatment plan that’s more effective and helps in the longer-term.

Treating the whole person

One of the most impactful features of the Local – a testament to the benefits of collaboration – is that it allows staff to treat members of their community with a ‘whole-of-person’ philosophy. Rather than just solely treating patients’ immediate issue or face-value symptoms, staff at the Locals are able support each client in a holistic manner and facilitate access to a rounded variety of services, so every element that’s contributing to a client’s mental health is addressed.

This includes concerns about substance abuse, alcohol and drug dependence. With ACSO’s experience with delivering alcohol and drug treatment and support via AOD clinicians and peer workers means this won’t go unchecked for someone with these underlying issues/concerns when seeking mental health support at the Local.

Setting a precedent

The ‘whole-of-person’ philosophy, transformational system of care, as well the priority placed on lived experience makes the Benalla-Wangaratta-Mansfield Mental Health and Wellbeing Local truly original.

This esteemed collaboration between ACSO, Wellways and AWH gives us a peek into the future of mental health treatment and support, and has set the standard for mental health reform across Australia.

“This [collaboration] has set the tone and provides the benchmark for future mental health reform initiatives, and is a terrific legacy.”

– Stuart McIntosh