community support services

Hasi program and other Accommodation Support Services

For many people who have mental health problems, stable accommodation and professional support are the foundations on which independence and a good quality of life can be built. PRA offers community services in a mix of different support levels. This area is the fastest growing of PRA's service types, and is connected to Area Mental Health services, public housing providers and other community agencies.

Community based accommodation services are not new, but they represent a good contemporary approach to addressing mental health recovery needs. For a person to live a satisfying and more independent life in the community, they need to develop and maintain a range of abilities that assist them on their personal recovery journey, including:

• secure, safe housing
• self maintenance
• stable health
• productive and satisfying activity
• personal and social stability

The level of support people receive depends on the program they participate in, ranging from "low support" of a couple of hours direct contact each week up to "high support", of up to 30 hours each week. All these services are provided where the person needs them - in the community.

Support is provided that is geared to the person's needs and wishes at the time. Our service model encompasses three main phases:

• response
• restoration
• reintegration.

Each phase represents a different type of support, at a different level of intensity, designed to address the person's individual needs at different stages of their recovery journey. Flexibility is central to the psychosocial approach, ensuring the right match of service with need. A person's increased independence and improved quality of life are the ultimate goals.

PRA's accommodation support, which helped 372 people in 2007/08 is available in the following locations: Armidale, Bateman's Bay, Bega, Cooma, Goulburn, Griffith, Lake Macquarie, Leeton, Maitland, Moree, Newcastle, Queanbeyan, Rockdale, Sutherland, Tamworth, Taree.

For more information contact Divisional Manager - Rehabilitation - Mark Orr, 9690 8933 or email mark.o2@pra.org.au

Recovery and Resource Services Program

This new State funded Program is aimed at improving outcomes for people
with a mental illness by offering them opportunities to be engaged in mainstream
quality community activities and through support in the development of personal life pathways.

The main objectives of this program are:

• Provision of individual service plans, based on assessed
  needs and consumer recovery goals;
• Development of an integrated NGO sector MHS
  partnership/service;
• Joint care planning with clinical services
  (MHS, GPs, private psychiatrist and/or psychologist);
• Active consumer-led participation in service planning
  and delivery;
• Service planning and delivery that is aligned with
  early intervention principles;
• Provision of activities that are community based and
  community focused.

For more information contact Divisional Manager - Rehabilitation - Mark Orr, 9690 8933 or email mark.o2@pra.org.au

Respite for carers

Respite for Carers Service, established in Penrith
in 1995 has grown to a service that provides support for
over forty people. PRA's support workers visit people living
with a mental illness in their own home, providing peer support
for consumers and valuable time out for their carers.
Having a personal experience of mental illness themselves,
support workers bring hope to carers and the people for
whom they care, demonstrating that recovery is not just a
concept but an achievable goal. The service now provides
overnight and weekend respite, as well as respite on a
regular weekly basis.

For more information contact Program Co- ordinator,
Respite for Carers, 4721 3658, or email: damian.d@pra.org.a u