Thanks to funding made available from the Western Australian State Government, Neami National will operate a 6 bed Step Up Step Down service in Albany, the first of its kind in regional WA.
A Step Up Step Down service provides short-term support for people with a mental illness to help prevent hospital admission as well as assist people to transition back into the community after a hospital stay. Consumers will stay at the facility for a maximum of 30 days.
The Mental Health Commission has appointed Neami as the provider of this new service. Neami has a proven capacity to operate similar services, with the Joondalup Mental Heath Step Up Step Down Service (JMHSS) operating since 2013. A recent research evaluation of the JMHSS demonstrated significant recovery and wellbeing gains for consumers following their stay and offered a reduction in costs. Neami also operates similar services in Brisbane, Broken Hill and Melbourne.
The service makes up part of a welcomed $21 million injection into community mental health Step Up Step Down services, with similar services also to operate in Broome, Bunbury, Geraldton, Kalgoorlie and Karratha.
The Mental Health Commission has produced five short videos that demonstrate the value of the service from the perspective of people who have used the service and from people who work within the services. – WA State Government
Glen James, Neami Western Australia State Manager, said: “We’re extremely pleased to be part of the initiative between Western Australia Country Health Service Great Southern, the Western Australia Mental Health Commission and Neami to establish and provide mental health step up step down services in the region. As an established provider of services in WA, we are looking forward to working with the people and services in Albany to support people seeking high-level mental health support in a Step Up Step Down setting.”
You can find out more and watch the videos here.
The new service was also mentioned in getregional, a news website showcasing rural, remote and regional Australia.