Reasons for a mental health care plan
Providing ongoing care and support for someone who is living with a mental illness can involve many different support organisations. These may include psychologists, GPs, psychiatrists, psychiatric nurses or other community care providers. They are all part of the healthcare team, which works together to provide you with the best level of care possible.
Everyone’s treatment needs are different. A care plan puts down in writing the support you can expect from each of the people in your mental healthcare team and makes sure that everyone knows who is responsible for what and when. You are an important part of this team and should be fully involved in preparing your mental health care plan.
Preparing your mental health care plan
Your doctor will work with you to decide:
- What your mental health needs are
- What help you require – your medical, physical, psychological and social needs are all considered
- What result you would like
- What treatment would be best for you.
Once you and your doctor have agreed on your goals and what support you need to achieve them, your doctor will write out a mental health care plan. They will then discuss this with the other members of your healthcare team. Preparing the plan might take one visit or it might take a number of visits.
Your doctor will offer you a copy of the plan and will also keep a copy on your medical record. If you give permission, a copy can also be given to other people, such as psychologists or your carer. You should tell your doctor if there is any information you don’t want other people in your healthcare team to know.
Benefits of a mental health care plan
Having a care plan will help you become more involved in your healthcare. A care plan can:
- Help you to set and achieve goals
- Make sure everyone involved in your mental healthcare team is working towards the same goals
- Help you and your doctor manage your long-term care in a way that is clear and easy to understand
- Give you a way to monitor your progress and check that you continue to receive the care you need
- Lead to better treatment by focusing on improving and maintaining your health rather than just dealing with problems as they arise
- Provide life-saving information in emergencies.
Things to remember
- Anyone who has a mental health problem that lasts longer than six months and needs the care of three or more health professionals will benefit from a care plan.
- Everyone’s treatment needs are different – your care plan can help you and your doctor work out what services are best for you.
- A care plan explains the support provided by each member of your healthcare team, who is responsible for what and when.
- Your care plan should be reviewed regularly to make sure it continues to meet your needs.
Source: https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/conditionsandtreatments/mental-health-care-plans#lp-contents
Australian mental health is okay on a worldwide level
Australia does not have a bad record when it comes to mental illness. In both the developed and undeveloped world, there is a far higher case of incidence of mental illness than in Australia alone.
Depression is a worldwide health concern
Surprisingly, in the developed world, the most common form of mental illness is depression, and the World Health Organization claims that it will be a major health issue worldwide as soon as the year 2020.
Am I different for suspecting I have a mental illness?
One in five Australians will suffer from mental illness, which is something to be concerned about, but is also a fact of life. That is why Era Health has invested so many resources into counselling and mental health care plans.
Effective treatment of mental disorders is very difficult, but the team at Era Health works harder than any other to make sure you get the best treatment possible.
We do not group people because of their conditions
Our clinic sees admissions of a wide range of mental illnesses, from the light but harmless, to the seriously disturbed. We deal with a massive range of mental illnesses and do not assume that any one case is the same.
We have specialists in the fields of:
• Bipolar disorder
• Anxiety
• Schizophrenia
• Eating disorders
• Personality disorders
• Alcohol addiction
• Drug addiction
Counseling and mental health care plans
There are counselling and mental health care plans in Melbourne to suit most people that enter the Era Health clinics. True to statistical form, one out of every five patients approach Era Health because of a mental illness or suspected mental illness, and our team are experts at spotting the early warning signs.
You have to catch mental illness early
Early and effective treatment means that our patients do not have to suffer for as long, and helps prevent a degradation in condition.
There is no way our staff can guarantee a successful conclusion, as no clinic or health professional could, but with the correct counselling, with diligence, and with behavioral therapy, our patients are able to see a marked improvement if not an outright cure.
