Welcome to the Individual Placement and Support (IPS) bi-monthly newsletter, published by the peak body for community mental health, the Western Australian Association for Mental Health (WAAMH).

In this Issue:

• IPS partnership - Midland Adult Community Health Service and Max Employment
• Workplace Wellness Symposium - be quick to register!
• WAAMH's IPS team assists regional South Australia
• Regional WA disability employment service provider shares IPS insights
• NDIS & Employment
• IPS in international settings
• Getting to the core: integrated services

Picture: (Front row left to right) Sui Johansen, Diane Moe, Nicola Deeney, Kathryn Ashworth. (Back row left to right) Jamie Potter, Maria Lloyd Jones, Victoria Paul.

WAAMH is delighted to announce the launch of the IPS Partnership between Midland Adult Community Health Service (MACMHS) and Max Employment, assisted by Partners in Recovery, 360 Health.

Sui Johansen, from 360 Health, said Partners in Recovery were optimistic that the IPS model would create opportunities for Midland consumers to access employment as a recovery tool. "We hope the collaboration will increase learning and connectedness for everyone involved," said Ms Johansen.

Jamie Potter, from MACMHS, said he was pleased to launch their IPS program on-site from Monday 8th February, in partnership with Max Employment. "It is great to welcome Employment Specialist Diane to our multidisciplinary team, and we look forward to working together for greater employment outcomes for our consumers," said Mr Potter.

Max Employment's Maria Lloyd-Jones said Max was excited to be launching its second IPS program. "Max is looking forward to the partnership between employment and mental health services working to gain better outcomes for participants,’ said Ms Lloyd-Jones.

As part of the WA Mental Health Conference on 10-11 March, WA’s business community are invited to the Workplace Wellness Symposium at Fraser's Kings Park on Thursday 10 March 2016.

With 1 in 5 Australian workers experiencing mental health problems last year, and the annual cost of mental illness reaching $10.9 billion, mental health is becoming a defining issue for businesses.

This symposium is ideal for Managers, Business Owners, Human Resource Professionals, OHS Staff, Health and Wellbeing Professionals and Organisational Development Consultants and will cover the topics of mental health, resilience, risk management, wellbeing, and leadership.

This event is open to the whole WA business community; you do not need to be a conference delegate to attend. To join mental health thought leaders from around Australia for this inaugural business symposium, click here.

A mental health service in regional South Australia (SA) will be partnering with a Disability Employment Service (DES) to deliver an integrated IPS program over an 18-month pilot project period.

Country Health South Australia Local Health Network (CHSA LHN) have funded a fulltime project worker, Lucas Milne, to implement IPS in the Lower North (Clare), Yorke Peninsula (Kadina) and Mid North (Port Pirie) community mental health services.

CHSA LHN were assisted by WAAMH’s IPS team with a week of IPS training in December 2015. Project worker Lucas Milne said WAAMH's support and mentoring left him feeling inspired, motivated and confident to lead IPS implementation in country SA.

If you would like to know how WAAMH's IPS technical support services can assist you, contact the IPS development unit on (08)9420 7277.

Picture source:  Government of South Australia website

View the below video to watch Ricky Feather, former IPS Employment Specialist for Forrest Personnel, discuss his role as an employment specialist implementing the IPS model of supported
employment in partnership with South West
Mental Health Services WA. 

Ricky described how his role enabled him to make a difference to people’s lives through employment being part of mental health recovery. “My job is to work alongside [people] and help them achieve their goal of finding a job that they consider meaningful,’ said Ricky.

Watch Ricky from Forrest Personnel here

Picture source:  Forrest Personnel Website

The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) is currently being trialled in various locations throughout Western Australia, including the WA NDIS My Way trials in the Lower South West and Kwinana/Cockburn.

People with disability and their families have the opportunity to utilise this support to assist the transition into employment.

For more information, click here

Picture source: Government of Western Australia, Disability Services Commission website.

Read how the National Alliance on Mental Illness in the United States continue to advocate for supported employment services to be made available to all people with mental health support needs.

For more information click here

Picture source: NAMI website.

A key feature of IPS is that employment support is embedded into clinical care.

Employment specialists are integrated into mental health teams to ensure there are coordinated services for individuals who wish to find paid work. Exploring employment goals and aspirations are a part of mental health treatment.

Being a fully integrated service enables the employment specialist and members of the clinical mental health team to work together for the benefit and recovery of the individual. 

Watch clinical and employment staff from Canadian Mental Health Association share IPS insights here