Table 1 Programs targeted to health professionals, health professional students, emergency workers
Program name | Organisation | Type of mental illness | Target audience | Program description | Anti-stigma component | Lived experience involvement | Session length, facilitated by | Where provided | Duration and reach | Funding | Level of evidencea |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Recovery Camp | Mental illness (non-specific) | Nursing students | A non-traditional placement for nursing students. Health students and people with a lived experience of mental illness attend a recreation camp, participating in an adventure activities program in the Australian bush | Contact: Lived experience attendees are encouraged to share their stories related to mental health and recovery with students. Everyone at camp is of equal status and contact is outside an acute setting (recovery focused) | LE person was involved in program development and delivery. Previous attendees with LE are involved in designing future camps and choosing camp activities | 5 days, 4 nights. Facilitated by registered nurses. Camps of 40–130 people, including 40 students, 40 people with lived experience, 5 nurse facilitators, several other staff | NSW, metropolitan | Since 2013. 800 students, 690 lived experience | Earned income from universities | 4 | |
School of Nursing and Midwifery, Central Queensland University | Mental illness (non-specific) | Nursing students | A nursing subject ‘Recovery for mental health nursing practice’ introduces students to a recovery approach to mental health care | Contact: Subject is taught by an academic with lived experience | LE person was responsible for all aspects of the subject (e.g. development of content and appropriate resources, writing and examining the assessment tasks) | N/R. Subject taught by nurse with lived experience | QLD, regional/ rural | N/R | N/R | 2 | |
Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Sydney | Schizophrenia, depression | Pharmacy students | Pharmacy students attend a tutorial with trained mental health consumer educators, receive a series of mental health lectures and undertake supervised weekly placements in the community pharmacy setting | Contact: Consumer educators discuss their history with mental illness, the medications they take, ways of coping with their illness, the important role that pharmacists need to play in supporting people with mental illnesses, and how they were real people who led normal lives despite their illness. Students given opportunity to interview the educators during the tutorial | Trained mental health consumer educators from the Schizophrenia Fellowship of NSW participate in each session | Contact session is 2 h. Facilitated by pharmacy tutors | NSW, metropolitan | Since 2010, approx. 2,500 students | N/R | 3 | |
Illawarra Institute for Mental Health, University of Wollongong | Severe and persistent mental illnesses, such as schizophrenia | Health professionals | Involves training in recovery concepts and skills supporting consumers’ abilities to set, pursue and attain personal goals | Education: Aims to improve mental health workers’ attitudes towards prospect of recovery | N/R | 2-day training, facilitator not reported | NSW, regional/ rural | N/R | N/R | 3 | |
Managing Mental Health Emergencies short course [27] | Australian Rural Nurses and Midwives | Range of disorders including psychosis, schizophrenia, or bipolar disorder | Rural and remote health professionals | Management of mental health emergencies including differentiating between substance intoxication and psychosis | Education: To upskill generalists in rural and remote areas to respectfully and effectively manage mental health emergency care | N/R | 2-day training, facilitator not reported | Australia-wide, regional/ rural, remote | Since 2003. As of 2007, 745 | Commonwealth Department of Health | 3 |
NSW Police Force, Queensland Police Service | Mental illness (non-specific) | Police officers | Training to become accredited specialist Mental Health Intervention Officers. Provides a practical skillset to assist them with managing persons within the community who are experiencing a mental health crisis event or suicidal ideation | Education: Training to identify signs and symptoms of mental illness, provide tools for communication strategies, risk assessment, de-escalation and crisis intervention techniques, and gain an understanding of the current Mental Health Act Contact: Lived experience component presented by panel of mental health consumers and a carer | N/R | 4-day training (intensive), 1-day training, facilitator not reported | NSW, ACT, WA, QLD | In NSW since 2007 [4-dayprogram]. As of 2015, 2,600 officers trained. Since 2014 [1-dayprogram]. As of Dec 2015, 16,141 officers trained. In QLD since 2006 | State government | 4 | |
Mental Health Intervention Team training (brief) [30] | Oak Flats VKG Call Centre | Mental illness (non-specific) | Emergency service communication officers | A brief version of the MHIT training which teaches how to respond effectively during mental health emergencies with the aim of diversion from jail to mental health treatment | Education: Training to increase the likelihood of call takers identifying mental health calls in order to prepare the responding officers before arriving at the scene | N/R | 1.5–2 h, facilitator not reported | NSW, metro, regional/ rural | Since 2011, N/R | N/R | 4 |