Improving Clinicians’ Involvement with Families in an Aged Person’s Mental Health Service

 

 

 

Research Team: Pam Copperwaite, Dr. Kuruvilla George, Shraeveni Giri, Dr. Catherine Hudgson, Dr. Tess Knight, Dr. Amaryll Perlesz, (The Bouverie Centre) Pam Rycroft (The Bouverie Centre)

 

Partners: Eastern Health Aged Persons’ Mental Health Service, The Bouverie Centre (La Trobe University), and Deakin University School of Psychology

 

Summary: This project uses a participatory action research framework within Eastern Health Aged Persons’ Mental Health Service community teams to explore ways of enhancing staff/family contact and better understanding barriers to team members engaging and working more closely with families of patients treated by EH APMHS. Attitudes towards and perceived competency in working with families of patients will also be studied. The project aims to clarify the barriers to staff members working with patients’ families, to develop and describe some appropriate interventions to overcome these barriers, and to evaluate the effectiveness of these interventions. 

 

Funding: Partially funded by the Eastern Health Aged Persons’ Mental Health Service.