Hello All,
Stay Connected was the theme for Schizophrenia Awareness Week that ran from 17 to 25 May this year. I cannot imagine a time when connection has been more significant. Connection is important for all of us – no matter what our stage of life, no matter what our circumstances. It is the glue that holds us together. Raising awareness in the hope of reducing stigma for those experiencing a mental illness is an important part of what we do at One Door. It is just as pertinent today as it was 34 years ago during the first Schizophrenia Awareness Week.
During the week, One Door was pleased to work with our national peak body – the Mental Illness Fellowship of Australia – to bring you our e- symposium, making it the most inclusive and accessible Schizophrenia Awareness Week to date. It was great to connect with so many of you attending our virtual events throughout the week.
Through the COVID-19 pandemic we have witnessed an injection of funds into not only the mental health system, but into wages, social security, and other needed support services. While we welcome these initiatives, it was clear in the discussions that occurred during our e-symposium last week that people impacted by mental illness need to be central to the design and delivery of services, and in the research into what works. The true measure of whether Australia is getting mental health support right will lie in our ability to have people with lived experience at the centre.
We heard from those with a lived experience of the complication and fragmentation of our mental health system. But we also heard of the hope that can come if services and systems are person-centred. Not a complicated idea – actually a very simple one. However, our systems have remained obstacles to achieving this simple concept of PEOPLE FIRST.
Our e-symposium was a wonderful chance to explore this and other concepts with you, and I was honoured to interview most of the panellists throughout the week. My thanks go to all the panellists for giving up their time to speak, including:
- The Honourable Bronwyn Taylor MLC, NSW Minister for Mental Health, Regional Youth and Women
- Dr. Stephen P King, Commissioner at the Productivity Commission
- Catherine Lourey, NSW Mental Health Commissioner
- Professor Patrick McGorry AO - Executive Director of Orygen
- Paul Cremen, One Door Mental Health PICS Peer Worker, Recovery College Peer Educator and Exercise Physiologist
- Cassandra Masters, One Door Mental Health Hospital to Home Program Coordinator
- Dr. Anne Honey, Senior Lecturer in Occupational Therapy at the School of Health Sciences, University of Sydney
- Darren Wagner, Peer Support Worker at The Sutherland Hospital
- Bernie Mullin, Carer and Director at One Door Mental Health
- Dr Richard Schweizer, Consumer Advocate and Policy Officer at One Door
- Esther Pavel-Wood, CEO at Mostly Mad Music
Thank you also to those of you who attended the sessions. I hope that you found them as thought-provoking as I did. If you missed any of the webinars, the links to them can be found here - Schizophrenia Awareness Week 2020 Webinars
I invite you to follow the links in our e-news below as we have a lot to share. Take care – Kathi
Kathi Boorman | CEO