Today the Victorian Department of Health and Human Services released the Equally Well in Victoria – Physical health framework for specialist mental health services.
The Physical health framework is the first of its kind in Victoria. It describes a range of initiatives for mental health organisations and clinicians to work in partnership with consumers and carers to discuss physical health in the context of a recovery plan. This framework provides information to help mental health services and clinicians to think about how to tailor treatment and strategies to the realities of the daily lives of consumers.
The framework describes the necessary elements at the organisation and clinical practice levels to guide implementation of physical health in a consistent way across Victoria. It asks services and clinicians to use a recovery approach to physical health, and offer help to consumers that extends beyond biomedical screening, diagnosis and treatment. It asks clinicians to work in an interprofessional manner to understand each person’s recovery journey and using collaborative recovery plans to enquire about the person’s physical health, appreciating the complex interplay with mental illness and how this operates in the context of the person’s life.
28 March 2019
