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Mindwaves
Hunter New England Mental Health Service Newsletter
Conversations matter when
talking about suicide
This month saw two big events.
World Suicide Prevention Day
(WSPD) and R U OK? Day, put
conversations about suicide into
the spotlight. Many people took
time out to discuss suicide and in
particular, asked ‘what do we say
to someone we are worried about?’
The theme for WSPD this year was
“one world connected.” Director of
the Hunter Institute of Mental
Health, Jaelea Skehan, said that
whilst connecting with others is
important for us every day, it is
particularly significant when having
these conversations.
“Our connection to others is what
builds us up and keeps us strong.
Having people sit beside us when
times are good and when times are
bad can make all the difference,”
said Jaelea.
The Hunter Institute of Mental
Health
has
developed
Conversations Matter, resources
to support community discussion
about suicide. Available online,
they provide practical advice when
communities want to know about:

how to talk about suicide
more generally

what to say to someone they
are worried might be thinking
about suicide

how to talk to someone
bereaved by suicide

what
to
say
when
communities are affected by
suicide

know how to talk to a child
about suicide.
To
learn
more
about
Conversations
Matter
visit:
www.conversationsmatter.com.au
Written
by
Brooke
Cross,
Communications Officer, HIMH
Senior
“Short term pain,
for long term gain”
(LMMHT on the move)
The Lake Macquarie Mental Health
team
has
long
served
our
community ... but there have been
changes.
We were not always
located in Charlestown.
More
recently, we expanded to take over
adjacent offices, so that the space
we currently use, “just behind
McDonalds”, went from a squeezy
workspace and small clinical rooms,
to a more comfortable non-clinical
area with lots of windows and more
spacious, safer clinical rooms. At the
same time, clinicians from both the
acute and rehabilitation teams were
melded into one team, with broader
scope given to the existing team.
Within the next two years, we will
move into a purpose-built, brand new
facility, less than 1 km south of our
current home. Ideally, this allows
both
optimal
architecture
and
ultimately saving on rent. This is the
long term gain.
However, in the next few months, we
leave the Lake Macquarie area and
relocate to the James Fletcher site,
working in a refurbished section of
Thwaites building. For some clients
and staff, this may be a plus, but for
some it will be short term pain.
Getting there may be harder for
some, but easier for others, as the
train line is more direct from west of
the Lake. We will help with this as
much as possible e.g. use extra cars
for even more home visits and
running clinics from both Windale
and Toronto Community Health
Centres.
If you meet concerned clients or
carers, please tell them to contact
their care coordinator, who can
answer
questions,
provide
information and help tailor care as
needed.
Written by Dr Joy Herron (Clinical Director) &
Robyn Cally (Service Manager) LMMHS
http://intranet.hne.health.nsw.gov.au/mh
ISSUE 104 — September 2014
Inside this issue:
(Page 2):

Introducing the Senior
Leadership Team

DiG Festival—HIMH
(Page 3):

YP-CoPMI

HNEMH Carer and
Clinician Conference
(Page 4):

Facebook

HNEMH Compliments

Farewell to staff

Mental Health Month—
October
(Page 5):

Kestrel Gardens

HNE Health Quality
Awards
(Page 6):

What New on our
Websites
Mindwaves
ISSUE 104 — September 2014
Introducing the Senior Leadership Team
The Mental Health Senior Leadership Team will be introduced to you
over the next couple of months in Mindwaves.
The Mental Health Senior Leadership Team consists of:

Dr Martin Cohen – Director (MH Executive member and HNE
Executive Leader)

Leanne Johnson – General Manager (MH Executive)

Dr Marcia Fogarty – Director Medical Services (MH Executive)

David McLeod – Manager of Nursing Services (MH Executive)

Nathan White – Senior Human Resources Consultant

Kim Lane – Acting Innovation, Partnerships and Performance
Manager

Nicole Taylor – Senior Management Accountant
In this edition we introduce
Nicole Taylor
Senior Management Accountant
Page 2
DiG Festival—HIMH
By Brooke Cross, Senior
Communications Officer, HIMH
Have you booked your ticket for
the health stream at Newcastle’s
DiG Festival yet? Join us!
The Hunter Institute of Mental
Health has partnered with DiG
Festival to introduce a dynamic
and interactive mental health
stream into this year’s conference
to be held in Newcastle which is
on 16-17 October 2014.
Over the two days our stream will
allow business, education and
technology providers, together
with young people, academics,
health professionals and experts
from the field to network and
share successes and ideas for the
future.
The major focus of the health
stream
is
on
technology,
communication and innovation.
This will include presentations,
panel sessions, and workshops
presented from media, educators,
technology partners and many of
the organisations at the forefront
of innovation in mental health.
To see our program in full click
here.
What is important to me:
Having a happy and healthy family.
What my colleagues say about me:
My colleagues would suggest that I have too much fun at work to be an
accountant. I love working in the health industry. It is a great
environment and I hope I can add value to a team that is striving hard
everyday to deliver a great service.
My favourite place in the world or favourite book / favourite movie:
My favourite place in the world is a summer day at the pool with my
family, followed up by a nice meal and glass of wine.
http://intranet.hne.health.nsw.gov.au/mh
This conference is a great cost
effective personal development
opportunity for health staff. This
festival is only $199 for a two day
event. However as a Hunter New
England staff member, we are
pleased to offer you a discount of
$50 for your registration! To
register,
go
online
at
www.digfestival.com.au/onlineregistration and use promotional
code HNHD1GD1SC0NT.
Visit
www.himh.org.au/home/
events/dig-festival
for
more
information on presentations,
speaker biographies and the
event.
ISSUE 104 — September 2014
Mindwaves
YP-COPMI
(Young People Children of Parents with Mental Illness)
In May last year, Allison Pennings, CNS—NMHS, participated in The
Bob Fenwick Memorial Grants Program which enabled her to spend time
pursuing a professional development opportunity.
Allison visited the Walker Unit, Adolescent High Severity Unit, Concord
Centre for Mental Health at Concord Hospital, NSW. The Unit is quite
unique in its design and in its inclusion of alternative therapies. They
employ an art therapist as well as a music therapist, under the
mentorship of Paul O’Keefe, NUM, and Art Therapist, Fran Nielson.
Approximately 65-75% of people accessing mental health services
experience language impairment unrelated to intellectual disability.
Individuals at the Walker Unit have significant communication difficulties
as a result of their psychotic illness, developmental problems, and/or
trauma. This experience can often be manifested by social withdrawal,
aggression, self-harm, anxiety, depression, psychosis and suicidality.
Art therapy provides an avenue for those who find it difficult to verbalize/
process their traumatic experiences and unrecognised emotions. It has
been widely documented that creativity provides an avenue for
self-expression not immediately obvious or accessible through words.
Through creative endeavors we are able to further assist the clients to
develop coping strategies, receive knowledge and validate their
experiences.
Current mental health nursing research recognises the value of art
therapy for individuals accessing mental health services as a way to
provide an alternative/adjunct to talking therapies.
Allison has brought this valuable experience back to her work as the
YP-COPMI nurse at NMHS. The YP-COPMI staff work in partnership
with adult community mental health staff and teams at Newcastle,
Hunter Valley and Lake Macquarie to provide a CAMHS service to
children and their parents when a parent is a consumer of mental health
services.
Longitudinal studies have shown that the risk of developing mental
disorders among children whose parents have a mental illness ranges
from 41-77%. We know that when a parent experiences a mental illness, there is a significant impact on family function. The distress in the
family can often result in children becoming overly concrete in their
thinking and, as a result, less able to express their confusion and distress.
YP-COPMI staff use a variety of therapeutic interventions including
targeted family interventions and art therapy to support families and
children, promote resilience and recovery whilst identifying individual
strengths of both adult mental health consumers and their families.
YP-COPMI interventions have been shown to result in improvements in
family functioning, child reported understanding of parental disorder,
child and parent family functioning and, most importantly, a reduction in
internalising symptoms for young people - a recognised precursor to
depression.
Article By Allison Pennings (CNS) & Jennifer Drinkwater (Senior Clinical
Psychologist /Coordinator)
http://intranet.hne.health.nsw.gov.au/mh
Page 3
Exploring our partnership
in Mental Health Care
Written by: Sunil Varma (Senior Social
Worker)
The 3rd Annual Mental Health
Carer
Clinician
Conference,
“Partnership in Mental Health
Care”, will be held across HNELHD
during Mental Health Month,
October 2014. It is a joint initiative
of Carer Assist, Commonwealth
Respite and Carelink Centre
(CRCC), Rural Adversity Mental
Health Program (RAMHP) and
Hunter New England Mental
Health (HNEMH).
The emphasis for this day will be
on the collaboration between
mental
health
professionals,
families and carers to achieve the
best possible recovery for the
person concerned.
The conferences will be held in
Taree on 2nd October 2014,
Newcastle on 3rd October 2014,
and in Tamworth on 16th October
2014. The conference is open to
any mental health carers and
HNEMH
clinician.
across
HNELHD. (Please see attached
flyers for registration).
http://intranet.hne.health.nsw.gov.au/
__data/assets/pdf_file/0009/128718/
Newcastle_Carer_Conf_Flyer_3_Oct14.pdf
http://intranet.hne.health.nsw.gov.au/
__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/128719/
Taree_Carer_Conference_Flyer_2014.pd
f
http://intranet.hne.health.nsw.gov.au/
__data/assets/pdf_file/0020/128720/
Tamworth_CC_Conference_4_16Oct.pdf
Did you know…..
Carers Assist are visiting MH
Inpatient Centres?
Speak to your unit Social Workers
to find out what time Carers Assist
are available on your unit to meet
with carers and families.
ISSUE 104 — September 2014
Mindwaves
HNE Facebook
Have you heard about the
Hunter New England Health
Jobs Facebook page?
Launched in August 2013, the aim
of the Facebook page is to help
attract quality job applicants,
particularly to “hard to fill”
positions in rural and regional
areas
and/or
in
specific
professions. The page is also a
way for us to promote our
organisation as a great place to
work! Content is posted daily and
includes
job
vacancies,
recruitment tips, information about
our services, facilities and regions,
stories about employees, general
interest posts, and other related
content. As at 11th September
2014, we have 4207 likes and this
is growing every day!
Want to know how you can
utilise the page for your own
recruitment needs?
Managers can request to post any
externally advertised job vacancy
on the page at no cost; simply
include “Facebook” in the list of
media within the Approval to
Recruit (ATR). If you have a ‘hard
to fill’ vacancy, Facebook can be
incorporated into a targeted
advertising campaign for your role.
Can I contribute other content
for the Facebook page?
Yes! We need managers and staff
to be proactive about providing
content.
Need
inspiration?
Remember that we want to attract
high quality people to join our
wonderful
organisation. What
could you contribute that would
show people what a great place
this is to live and work?


Have you held an event at
work recently? Send us a
photo
and
a
short
description.
Tell us about your team/unit/
facility/service and send us a
picture!




Do you have a team or an
employee you’d like to
recognise? Tell us about
them, why they are a great
HNE Health employee, and
send us a photo!
Provide a staff testimonial tell us about yourself, what
your role is, and why you
love working for HNE Health.
Are you involved in an
interesting or rewarding HNE
Health project or program?
Tell us about it!
Did you relocate to one of
our rural areas? Tell us
about your experience and
why you’ve found the
change to be rewarding.
Send
content
to [email protected].
Page 4
HNE Compliments
Congratulations!
Centre For
Psychotherapy
HNEMH
would
like
to
acknowledge and congratulate the
Centre for Psychotherapy on the
outstanding commitment to the
therapy of their clients, recognised
by the overall number of
compliments received for this
service in the last couple of
months.
“The capacity to care is what gives
life its deepest significance”.
(Centre for Psychotherapy client)
BON VOYAGE!!
[email protected]
John Outram will be retiring from
HNEMH after 39 years. A farewell
will be held for John on the 24th
October at Bar Beach Bowling
Club. Should you wish to attend,
please contact James Dow on
4904 9000.
Tamara Cobb, Acting Senior
Recruitment Officer – Marketing &
Social Media on 4985 3371 or
October is Mental Health
Month
Who can I contact about the
Facebook page?
[email protected]
Julie Clarke, Manager,
Recruitment Support Unit on 4985
3173 or [email protected]
And don’t forget to like us on
Facebook!
You
can
visit
us
at
www.facebook.com/
HunterNewEnglandHealthJobs or
simply search for Hunter New
England Health Jobs Facebook
via Google or any internet search
engine. Remember that it isn’t
possible to access Facebook at
work, so you need to access the
page via a non-HNE Health
device.
Find more information in the
special Facebook edition of
Recruitment News.
http://intranet.hne.health.nsw.gov.au/mh
To find out what is happening in
your area, please see the attached
calendar of events:
Mindwaves
ISSUE 104 — September 2014
“How does your garden grow?”
Kestrel develops a green thumb
Article by: Alana O’Hearn, Christine Richards (Occupational Therapists)
Back in early 2014, a Registrar by the name of Dr Lucy Cho suggested a
garden be created here at the Kestrel Unit at Morisset Hospital. Kestrel
is a 30 bed Medium Secure Unit. Research was carried out to identify a
space on the unit which could be used to replicate the Bellbird and
Rosella Gardens which already exist on the grounds of Morisset Hospital.
With the consumers’ help, we identified an under-utilised area at the back
of the unit as a good space. What started as a bare patch of grass has
now developed into multiple garden beds thriving with herbs, vegetables
and flowers. This garden was planned, developed and is maintained by
our consumers.
Kestrel were lucky enough to have local businesses provide donations of
garden beds to get the project up and running. The staff and consumers
would like to give thanks to Tank World and Bunnings for their kind
donation of garden beds to get the garden started. So with our sleeves
rolled up and some enthusiastic consumers we got the beds planted,
plants purchased and have already harvested the garden on various occasions with the money going back into the garden funds.
Once we had a few plants in and the garden was becoming a hit, we
brainstormed about putting in a Bush Tucker garden. Here at Morisset we
are lucky enough to have the Morisset Multipurpose Garden close by with
a large Bush Tucker garden. So staff and consumers packed up morning
tea and headed off to see the garden to get some more ideas. Consumers
are the real experts with the garden, offering advice about seasonal
planting and some advice about permaculture (plants that grow well
together). We have had some consumers give feedback that it's relaxing
watering the plants and an enjoyable place to be. Also that it’s an
opportunity to burn off some energy!
Not only is the garden a great space, consumers are benefiting in the
kitchen too. Consumers can pick herbs or fresh vegetables for use in our
cooking programs. As Mental Health clinicians, it is our role to enhance
the consumer’s individual path to recovery. By providing an alternative
sensory environmental space in the form of a garden, we hope this helps
clients to relax and engage in therapeutic activity that is meaningful to
them. We also hope the garden gives our consumers the opportunity to
use their resourcefulness, individuality, strengths and abilities in all areas
of looking after the garden and watching it grow!
Pictured left: The
gardens of Kestrel
Pictured Right:
Ms Belinda Meehan
(Left), Ms Kris Farrar
(Right)
http://intranet.hne.health.nsw.gov.au/mh
Page 5
HNEMH WHS Award –
June 2014
The HNEMH Health Safety
Committee (HSC) has commenced
a monthly WHS Award process
following a recommendation from
the HNEMH Director, Dr Martin
Cohen.
The inaugural award (June 2014)
has been presented to the
Therapeutic Activities Working
Group, led by Donna Wright –
Head
of
Discipline
for
Occupational Therapy, for its
“Commitment
to
Safety
in
undertaking Risk Assessments of
Therapeutic Activities and the
development of Job Safety Analyses & Safe Work Practices”.
HNEMH 2014 Quality Awards
Congratulations to both Kris Farrar
(CNC / Staff Health, The Maitland
Hospital) and Belinda Meehan
(CNC / Staff Health, HNEMH)
winners of this year’s Quality
Award for Excellence in Workplace
Safety - “Don’t Get Stuck at Work”.
Based on the CDC “Stop sticks”
campaign; reducing sharps injuries
requires healthcare workers to
have a full understanding of the
magnitude of the problem. The
“Don’t Get Stuck at Work”
campaign focused on raising staff
awareness of how sharps injuries
occur and how they can be
prevented from reoccurring with
the use of safety engineered
sharps devices,
and taking
ownership of safe sharps disposal.
Mindwaves
ISSUE 104 — September 2014
What’s New:
Policy and Procedure updates
Updated
MH_LP_2.24.08_Research_and_Ethics_Approval.pdf
MH_LP_1.173.01_After_Hours_Community_Staff_based_at_the_Mater.pdf
Mental Health: Working with Carers from Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) Backgrounds
Mental Health: Children Visiting in Inpatient Mental Health Ward
Mental Health: Visitor – Requested to Leave
Rescinded
3.49.10 Inclusion of MHCoPES in Service Planning and Delivery
PD2012_018:PCP 3 Staff Relationships
MH Internet updates
MH Information for Consumers & Carers – Updated navigator guides have been added
http://www.hnehealth.nsw.gov.au/mh/mhpublicresources/navigatorsguide
http://www.hnehealth.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0007/119671/NG21_Employment_and_Recovery_v12.pdf
http://www.hnehealth.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/119672/NG22_Education_and_Study_v12.pdf
http://www.hnehealth.nsw.gov.au/mh/mhpublicresources
MH Research, Translation & Evaluation – MH publications have been added
http://www.hnehealth.nsw.gov.au/mh/mhresearch/mhresearchpublications
http://www.hnehealth.nsw.gov.au/mh/mhresearch
MH Services and Facilities – Contact details have been updated
http://www.hnehealth.nsw.gov.au/mh/services/mhsf
MH Intranet updates
MH Nursing Research Practice Development Unit – Project Information has been added
http://intranet.hne.health.nsw.gov.au/mh/mhresearch/mhnrpdu
http://intranet.hne.health.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0009/127548/MHNRPDU_Clinical_Project_Initial_Outline.pdf
MH Orientation & Training – DBT Training opportunities in October have been added
http://intranet.hne.health.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/127724/DBT_Training_Flyer_October_2014.pdf
http://intranet.hne.health.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/127725/DBT_Training_October_2014_Registration.pdf
http://intranet.hne.health.nsw.gov.au/mh/mhstaffresources/mhorientationandtraining
MH Procedure, Guidelines and Document Management – Page links have been updated
http://intranet.hne.health.nsw.gov.au/mh/mhstaffresources/mhprocedures
Mindwaves - Previous editions available at http://intranet.hne.health.nsw.gov.au/mh/mindwaves
Request content updates - You can request a change to any page via the form link at the foot of each page:
http://intranet.hne.health.nsw.gov.au/mh/mhwebcontent_update_request_form
For web updates or further information please contact: [email protected]
Feedback and suggestions for articles for the newsletter can be forwarded by email to HNELHD-MHSFeedBack
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