Many people with mental health issues struggle with housing and employment. Photo: Rob Homer
NSW will get three “one-stop-shop” treatment centres for people with mental illness and their families, the government will announce on Tuesday.
The aim of the centres is to ensure people with complex mental health issues, who need help in other aspects of their life such as housing, family planning or education, will be able to get that help in the one place.
Minister for Mental Health Jai Rowell will launch the first such centre, called “LikeMind”, which will operate in Penrith. At the same time, he will announce $2 million for another two such centres in other parts of the state.
Mr Rowell said the centres would improve access to important services for people with mental illness, as well as their carers.
“People living with mental illness often also have complex health and social needs, which is why the NSW government is so determined to ensure that these services can be easily accessed when needed,” he said.
“By co-locating a comprehensive range of services through the LikeMind model and fostering a spirit of co-operation between all stakeholders, we can provide care that is at all times keenly focused on the specific needs of the individual.”
The Penrith LikeMind site will be run by Uniting Care, and a number of that organisation’s mental health programs, including mentoring services and carer respite, will be run through it. But patients will also be able to access the services of Family Planning NSW, the NSW Cancer Council and Diabetes NSW.