AICAFMHA:
promoting mental health for young Australians
Australian Infant, Child, Adolescent and Family Mental Health Association Ltd
ABN 87 093 479 022
Post Natal Family Support Service
| Date update submitted | 30/08/01 |
| Program Title | Post Natal Family Support Service |
| Contact Person/s | Diane Hickey |
| Organisation | Moongala Womens Community House |
| Address | 824 Centre Road East Bentleigh 3165 |
| State | VIC |
| chrishickey@optusnet.com.au | |
| Telephone | 03 9570 7768 |
| Facsimile | |
| Program Description | We are looking into the fesability of setting up a home support service to women suffering Post natal difficulties. This service would be free to the families using us, and not based on income at all. It would be government funded and have both paid and unpaid volunteers working for it. We believe that there is a huge gap out there in the community between women receiving professional care (psychiatric hospitalisation) and surviving day to day with the illness while still caring for young children. Through our personal experiences, we know how hard it is to deal with day to day tasks and issues while suffering depression, let alone looking after small children and addressing their needs as well. We would be going into homes with no particular plan other than to do what is needed in the house on the day. We would baby-sit for the mum if she needed to shop, have a break or had a doctors appointment, clean, cook, shop, do washing, ironing, make a cup of tea and have a chat with the mum. Whatever she needed. Often severe PND not only affects the women, but the whole family, including the husband, and we hope through this service to help family units survive the ordeal and remain together. We would work in conjunction with community professionals, and would hope to be referred by and to refer to GPs, sleep clinics, psychiatrists, maternal health nurses, and more. We understand that this type of service would require strict guidelines regarding privacy, safety etc, and therefor know that it will be a long time in the planning process. We hope to get the assistance, advice and support from as many organisations as we possibly can in order for it be successful. We see this service as absolutely necessary in the community. Our goal is that the "Post natal Family Support Service" would start off locally, then grow to Statewide and eventually Australia wide. It is long overdue, and could mean the difference between life and death (literally) for a lot of women out there. We are a group of women who are 100% committed to see this project through to the end. |
| Evaluation Information | None |
| Evidence | personal experience from PND sufferers, partners, local community providers GPs, Ministers, Psyciatrists etc.) |
| Any other information |
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