Tandem's supplementary submissions

Peer Support Interventions for Mental Health Carers and Families (September 2020)

Tandem, Drummond Street Services and Queerspace LGBTQA+ Communities and Mental Health Caring Relationships Focus Group Consultation Paper (July 2020)

CALD Carer Lived Experience Perspective (May 2020)

Tandem's initial submission to the Royal Commission

Tandem completed a Submission to the Royal Commission highlighting the stories from our members around the state, and focused on their demand for changes to the mental health system to end exclusion.

Media release

Family and friends of people with acute or severe mental health issues are calling for changes to the Victorian mental health system, to ensure caring families and friends are more included in important decisions around treatment and management of people with a mental illness.

Tandem, the peak body for mental health carers, has today released its submission to the Royal Commission, and among the changes the organisation is calling for, includes the need for a more inclusive model of care to end the exclusion of families and friends.

There are thousands of people in Victoria who are caring for people with acute mental illnesses. They are predominantly women, caring for their partner or child. Forty per cent of carers are out of the workforce, have lower education levels and lower incomes than the rest of the population.

They provide a service which is invaluable to our health system and they must be considered a critical part of any treatment team.

As part of its submission process, Tandem has engaged Dr Melissa Petrakis of Monash University in order to conduct a review of the available literature. The review found the research case concluding that family focused models of care have substantially better outcomes for people with mental health conditions and their carers is overwhelming.

Marie Piu, CEO of Tandem, said that the experience of carers is of one of being continually excluded from the treatment and management of the people that they care about. Being excluded makes an incredibly difficult and stressful times in people’s lives even more so.

“Carers, attempting to support those that they love, face a broken mental health system. But all too often, they report being locked out, denied basic information and excluded from the decision making process - and yet, are relied upon to manage the person’s condition when someone is released back into the community.

“When their son or daughter, partner, parent or friend has a breakdown or psychotic episode, carers are the ones who try to work out who to call. They are the ones who wait in hospitals, and they are the ones who them up after they have been prematurely and inappropriately discharged from the hospital at all hours of the night.

“Carers are a critical part of the treatment team. We are urging the Royal Commission to change mental health system to ensure that families are included at every step of the way.

Click here to read Tandem's formal submission to the Royal Commission

Key messages

SAFE

Mental health services are safe for all
All health services ensure the physical, sexual and psychological safety of the people who use them. We seek a commitment to working with consumers, family and friends, the workforce and service providers to build a mental health system and services that can keep people safe.

FUNDED

Provide comprehensive and effective mental health services
A mental health sector that can only treat people in crisis will continue to struggle. Investment in community mental health and preventative services that are accessible to the 90,000 Victorians who need them is vital. We seek detailed plans for a fully rounded and therapeutic and effective mental health sector.

INCLUSIVE

Tandem believes that a mental health system should support the relationships of consumers and family and friends in recovery.
Friends and family frequently report exclusion from care planning, information relating to discharge and report feeling like adversaries rather than partners in recovery. Tandem recognises that some services in the mental health system already work to deliver family inclusive practice. These services must be recognised and the practices that they have pioneered need to be core service across the sector for the benefit of all service users. Staffing and resourcing shortfalls need to be addressed as part of facilitating holistic and inclusive practice.

Our consultations have uncovered that many in the workforce feel ill-equipped, overstretched and not supported to deliver care and services that include family and friends in a meaningful and helpful way. This then leads to negative outcomes for all concerned. This must change.

FAIR

Family and friends can access tailored mental health supports and services that meet their needs
Providing support for someone shouldn't come at a huge cost to family and friends: financially, socially, emotionally or physically. Any mental health system must include pathways for tailored services to enable family and friends to continue providing support while also living an active life.

Tandem is the trusted voice of family and friends in mental health in Victoria. As the Victorian peak body with a sole focus on the needs and interests of mental health carers, Tandem's role is to provide leadership, coordination, knowledge and support to the organisations and individuals who are working to improve outcomes for Victorian people living with mental health issues.

Research and lived experience attests to the fact that mental health issues often have a profound impact on the health and wellbeing of the individuals affected and the family and friends who support them.

Tandem seeks a mental health system that values and assists family and friends, treats them as allies, and supports them in managing the numerous short and long term challenges of caring for family members who live with mental health issues. Our members have told us about the changes to the system of care that will benefit their lives and the lives of the people they support.

If you have any further questions on the Royal Commission into Victoria's Mental Health System please contact us on 1800 314 325 or email us at [email protected]

Thank you for the work you do every day. We value your contribution and take our role as the trusted voice of family and friends in mental health very seriously.

Other submissions

Carer Lived Experience Workforce Submission
Victorian Government's submission to the Royal Commission
Relevant organisations: