Richardson Support House

July 2009 - Medicare, NAIDOC and school hoildays!

2009-07-06T07:21:00.002+10:00

Hello everyone,

Please do leave leave your comments on our last post about Medicare. We are really interested to read about what people think on these issues.

In response to several telephone calls - yes Richardson Support House counsellors bulk bill under the following circumstances:
You must have a referral from your GP and a Mental Health Care Plan (Form 2710). The plan covers you for six sessions.
Bulk billing is then available for pensioners, those with a Health Care Card, or those under 16 years. Other people will need to pay the gap - at the moment the gap is no more than $5 for counselling.

School holidays start this week in the ACT. Our children are very excited and will be joining us on the Heart Foundation ACT walks. Looking for a fun activity in Richardson? Come and join us on Mondays at 9.30am for a walk and morning tea.

This is also the start of NAIDOC Week. Here is the information:
NAIDOC WEEK: 5 - 12 July 2009
NAIDOC Week celebrations are held across Australia each July to celebrate the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres StraitIslander peoples. NAIDOC is celebrated not only in Indigenous communities,but by Australians from all walks of life. The week is a great opportunityto participate in a range of activities and to support your local Aboriginaland Torres Strait Islander community.More information about NAIDOC is available at the NAIDOC website http://www.naidoc.org.au

Happy Holidays!

Medicare

2009-05-23T14:59:00.002+10:00

I’d like to open a discussion on Medicare.
First a little background! As of 1 November 2006 allied mental health Medicare items became available on the Medicare Benefits Schedule. Medicare rebates are available, on referral for up to 12 individual allied mental health services per patient per calendar year, generally provided in up to two groups of up to 6 services with the referring practitioner considering the need for further sessions after a course of treatment (which may comprise up to 6 services).
Allied mental health services that can be provided under this initiative include Psychological Therapy services provided by eligible clinical psychologists and Focussed Psychological Strategies services provided by eligible psychologists, social workers and occupational therapists. This program is called “Better Access to Mental Health”.
At Richardson Support House we have a psychologist and a social worker. When we started Richardson Support House, we were keen to offer affordable and accessible counselling services to those in need. As such, we have become Medicare providers (Allied Health), providing services as described above.
Now all of this is not without controversy (both Nationally and at our local level).
First, the Better Access to Mental Health program has been far more popular than the Federal Government anticipated. This year the figures have increased even further (The Australian reported it might be due to current financial stress, May 2009). You can view the figures at www.health.gov.au/internet/mental health/publishing.nsf/Content/mental-ba-fig
Various concerns have been raised: Although collaboration between GP and Allied Health providers is encouraged, there is no monitoring or accountability to ensure this happens. There are no incentives for “co-location of services, effective geographical distribution of services, provision of early interventions for young people, or treatment of patients in greatest need at low cost” (The Australian, 19 May 2009). Some experts are concerned that people benefiting from the program are those already receiving treatment and who can afford large gap payments.
At our local level, Richardson Support House bulk bills patients with Health Care Cards or under 16 years. For other patients the payment gap varies depending on the type of service, but it is never more than $5. It has been said that we are setting our prices too low, that services will be undervalued to the detriment of both the service and other providers.
Well, we are pretty gung ho about our desire to have an “accessible and affordable” service. We accept various people’s concerns, and to some degree we can address those issues. We do want to ensure that we are open to collaboration with the referring Doctors and other mental health providers. We do wish to encourage those most in need to access our services. (Partly I think the onus is on us to promote the service locally). I realise that we can’t satisfy everyone’s concerns, nor can we have “all the people happy all the time”! But if we can just reach some people in need, then we’ll have achieved all we hoped for.

We've been operating for about 10 months now. Some of the patients are those "already accessing services". But some patients have had long term issues they have never before sought treatment for.

I’d really like to hear from others about their opinions on the new Medicare program?

Workplace Walking Challenge

2009-05-08T05:53:00.003+10:00

The ACT CISM Library is at Richardson Support House. The library has folders of articles on stress management, workplace stress management, critical incident management, peer support in different settings, some general mental health issues (from the perspective of providing support mainly).

ACT CISM is a not-for-profit community organisation that many of us volunteer for. They provide a free crisis employee assistance program for community organisations and small business, the library service (they mail out articles in Australia on request), training on these topics, and host several events over the year.

One of these events is the annual Workplace Walking Challenge held on the first Tuesday of May each year. Walkers are asked to donate a gold coin to the Heart Foundation ACT (it is Heart Week). There are prizes for the "Best dressed Teams". The 30 minute walk is held by Lake Burley Griffin. This year six teams entered (including the Richardson Support House Walking Group). ACT CISM hosts the challenge to promote exercise and team building (by walking as a

workplace team) as great stress management strategies. AND it is a lot of fun. It was a terrific day - the weather was just perfect. Highlights were the St Vincent's Team that dressed up for the occasion in heart costumes, the Mental Health Foundation ACT Team with colourful hand knitted jumpers, and the Warehouse Circus Team. The Richardson Support House Team wore their Heart Foundation Walking Group Polo Shirts. Of course, Kylie is already plotting exciting costumes for next year....

Photo: Some of walking teams of 2009

Resources

2009-04-02T08:03:00.002+11:00

The foyer of Richardson Support House is set up as an area for relaxation. There is a massage chair, other chairs, an exercise bike and reading materials. We also have a large pamphlet rack which is filled with pamphlets about organisations that support mental health as well as information brochures.

During March we received a new pamphlet from Beyond Blue - The National Depression Initiative - "Taking Care of Yourself after Retrenchment or Financial Loss". We have a range of excellent pamphlets about depression and anxiety from this organisation, they are very helpful. Their website is well worth a visit too - you can find them at www.beyondblue.org.au

Everyone is most welcome to visit Richardson Support House!

School Anxiety

2009-02-03T15:41:00.002+11:00

Well today the children of Richardson Support House started school again for the year! When we set Support House up, we wanted it to be a friendly place where visitors, staff and clients could bring their children. So over the school holidays we have had lots of children about. We moved a cubby house into the back yard and built a secure fence, so the children have enjoyed the back yard. But it has been very hot, so there have been a lot of quiet indoor games too.

Sometimes our children worry about starting school again. School anxiety is a common issue. There are many websites set up to address this.
How To Relieve School Anxiety http://specialchildren.about.com/od/specialeducation/ht/anxiety.htm
Social Causes of School Anxiety http://stress.about.com/od/studentstress/a/school_anxiety.htm

May the start of school be a time of great joy to your children.
Best wishes from the Richardson Support House Team

Counselling and Local Walks

2009-01-20T09:23:00.002+11:00

The Richardson Support House Team are very pleased to welcome a new tenant in the building - Robyn, a social worker, started here last week. Robyn has many years experience particularly with children, chronic conditions, family and relationship counselling. She will also be available for general counselling. So now there is a Psychologist, Psychologist Intern, and Social Worker available for community counselling needs. Please don't hesitate to contact us for further details on 02 62918009.

The Walking Group is going well, now meeting on Monday mornings at 9.30am. The group walks 15 minutes out and 15 minutes back. Everyone can then join us for a cuppa or cool drink at Richardson Support House (RSH). There are some very pleasant walks in Richardson. The Bike path from Isabella Plains to Calwell is only a short distance from RSH. Much to the children's delight, there is a playground just before the road underpass to Calwell.

We have talked to people about what interesting walks are available locally. The local Girl Guide Unit recently visited the Indigenous Axe Grinding Grooves at Theodore. The access is via Christmas Street in Theodore. A short walk along the reserve road (access through large gate) brings you to an access gap in the fence. The fence protects the grasslands on the hill. If you walk towards to large trees on the top of the rise (eastward) the grooves are easily found in several rock banks along the ground. It is a special place.

The children have several favourite walks locally - particularly in the school holidays! The walks and excellent playground at Tidbinbilla are always worth visiting. Then a short drive to Burra provides some interesting walks to "London Bridge" - a rock arch over the River there.

Apart from that there are bike paths throughout the local suburbs. The children always enjoy ending up at the Fadden Pines Reserve which has a skate area and terrific playground.

Happy walking in the holidays!
The Richardson Support House Team

A Surprise

2009-01-09T17:41:00.002+11:00

The Richardson Support House Team was delighted to have a visit from the Richardson Primary School Choir in the last week of school 2008. They sang Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer for us. Thank you very much indeed!

This time of year brings many celebrations: Chanukkah, Christmas, Yule, Rohatsu, and Kwanzaa. Not to mention Australian New Year celebrations... Of course, we celebrated various events with family and friends over the last couple of weeks.

Holiday celebrations can have positive and negative effects on people. Positive in the creation and maintenance of social bonds (family and community), the opportunity to 'look forward' (completely different to worry about the past or anxiety about the future). But it also brings pressures - like unrealised expectations of happy family, or accentuating loneliness, or financial pressures to provide special food / drinks / gifts.

There are some websites that offer ideas and suggestions for how to cope with holiday stress:
www.mayoclinic.com/health/stress/MH00030
www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/bhcv2/bhcarticles.nsf/pages/Holiday_stress?open

We do hope that your holiday provides much enjoyment and little stress!
Best wishes and Happy New Year from the Richardson Support House Team

Volunteers

2009-01-09T17:24:00.002+11:00

Friday the 5th of December 2008 was International Volunteers’ Day (established by the United Nations General Assembly in 1985.) So the Richardson Support House decided to hold a special celebration dinner to thank all those who volunteered this year. Since we opened in August, several people have offered assistance - people have helped us move in, worked in the yard, painted the building, did library or administration work, worked on community development, provided counselling to the community and much more. We are so very grateful for their support.

ACT Critical Incident Stress Management Information Service Inc. is staffed entirely by volunteers. They have a room at Richardson Support House for their public research library. The library has articles and books on stress, stress management, trauma and disaster recovery.

So, there are many organisations in Australia that benefit from the good will and hard work of volunteers. The Australian Bureau of Statistics survey of Voluntary Work in 2006 indicated that 5.4 million Australian adults (34% of the population) do voluntary work each year.

Many newspaper articles note that volunteering has a positive effect on stress and depression. Many general Stress Management books also recommend volunteering for this reason. For example Coping with Stress by Gwen K. Packard (Coping with Stress 1999) writes that volunteer work has many advantages. It gives volunteers a chance to think about something other than events causing them stress, it builds self esteem because they are helping the community and/or people in need, it can keep people from getting bored, they can meet new friends, or learn new things.

There are several studies that support this idea that volunteering has positive benefits for people. A survey conducted by the UK organisation Community Service Volunteers of over 600 volunteers found that 71% thought volunteering helped combat depression (CSV and Barclay’s 29 September 2004). Over half the respondents also indicated it alleviated personal stress.

Best wishes from the Richardson Support House Team.

Relaxation

2008-11-26T08:04:00.002+11:00

Richardson Support House recently obtained a massage chair - it is available in the foyer for any visitors (and staff!) to use. We thought it would be a great aid for relaxation, which helps with stress management. Richardson Support House is open from 10am to 2pm each weekday, so feel free to drop in - try the chair, have a cuppa, and / or read the health promotion materials in the reading rack!
There are some great articles on relaxation available on the web - see http://www.reachout.com.au/default.asp?ti=309 on the "Reach Out" website or http://www.depressionet.com.au/treatments/relaxation-2.html on Depressionet.

The Benefits of Regular Exercise

2008-11-03T08:40:00.001+11:00

Friday 24 October 2008

Today we had our first Heart Foundation walking group which had a great turn out of six people. Molly the dog joined us and the weather was lovely. We walked through the local green spaces on paths through Richardson for thirty minutes, the national recommended amount of healthy activity.

As our Walking Group at the Support House gets up and running, we have been thinking about the various benefits of regular exercise.

Evidence shows that benefits include:
- Improving physical health, fitness and wellbeing
- Helping with psychological well-being and stress management
- Increasing levels of neurotransmitters (chemical messengers in the brain) and endorphins (‘mood-lifting’ chemicals)
- Enhancing self esteem
- Increasing positive social contact
- Assisting with managing depression and anxiety symptoms
- Protecting the cardiovascular and immune system from the consequences of stressful events
- Being an enjoyable distraction from every day concerns and blocking negative thoughts
- Helping people to get a good night’s sleep
- Increasing energy levels
- Providing an opportunity for new skills and challenges

Joining a walking group is a great way to enjoy the benefits of regular exercise. Walking is suitable for most fitness levels, is cheap, doesn’t involve travel when walking locally, and is easily incorporated into a busy lifestyle.

Walking in a group also helps to keep motivated and stick to a plan, with a regular timeslot and meeting place. People are more likely to keep active if it’s fun and there are people to enjoy it with, because participating in activities with others helps to feel connected and confident.

The Heart Foundation also offers great incentives to those who participate in walking groups through the Walker Recognition Scheme. This includes certificates when you reach walking milestones.

References

Babyak, M. J. et al. (2000). Exercise treatment for major depression: maintenance of therapeutic benefits at 10 months. Psychosomatic Medicine, 62: 633-638.

Barabasz, M. (1991). Effects of Aerobic Exercise on Transient Mood State. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 73: 657 – 658.

Bauman, A. et al. (2002). Getting Australia active: towards better practice for the promotion of physical activity. National Public Health Partnership. Melbourne.

Beyondblue: The National Depression Initiative. (2007). Keeping Active. Fact sheet 8. Hawthorn West: Beyondblue.

Blumenthal J. A. et al. (1999). Effects of exercise training on older patients with major depression. Archives of Internal Medicine, 159: 2349 – 2356.

Brown, J. (1991). Staying Fit and Staying Well: Physical fitness as a moderator of life stress. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 60 (4) 555 – 561.

Critical Incident and Stress Management Information Service Inc. Newsletter. May 2006. 7 (4): 1 –2.

Department of Health and Ageing. (2004). Get out and get active: Australia’s Physical Activity Recommendations for 12-18 year olds. Canberra: Commonwealth of Australia.

Dunn, A. et al. (2001). Physical activity dose response effects on outcomes of depression and anxiety. Medicine, Science and Sport, 33 (6): 587 – 597.

McNeil, J. K. et al. (1991). The effect of exercise on depressive symptoms in the moderately depressed elderly. Psychology and Aging, 6: 487 – 488.

Paffenbarger, R. S. et al. (1994). Physical activity and personal characteristics associated with depression and suicide in American College men. Acta Psychiatr, 377: 16-22.
Singh, N. A. et al. (1997). A Randomised controlled trial of progressive resistance training in depressed elders. Journal of Gerontology, 52: 27 – 35

Weyer, S. (1992). Physical inactivity and depression in the community. Evidence from the Upper Barvarian Field Study. International Journal of Sports Medicine, 13: 492 – 496.

The importance of social activity and having interests and hobbies

2008-10-28T16:30:00.001+11:00

7 October 2008

Monday was a public holiday, so people from Richardson Support House enjoyed the long weekend. Psychologist Karen went off to a science fiction convention, Conflux 5, and met up with new and old friends. Office Manager Kylie enjoyed time with her family. Social Work student Laura had a relaxing time (and a cold swim) at the coast. And volunteer Michael (soon to be an intern psychologist) attended a medieval recreation event. He arrived at work Tuesday to tell us that Sir Alpha and Sir Beringar had beaten him in battle.

All this activity reminded us about the importance of social activity in good mental health! Keeping active helps elevate your mood, helps to block negative thoughts and distracts you from hassles, reduces loneliness and increases well-being. So it is terrific when you have interests and hobbies.

So, back to the Medieval battle! Naturally we had to enjoy the recreation as well, so we promptly declared war on Sir Alpha and Sir Beringar for “besting our champion”. In our scroll, we challenged them to combat. Poor Michael! However, as it was school holidays, we had a number of children visiting. They have volunteered to be Michael’s viking horde should Sir Alpha and Sir Beringar take our challenge seriously!

Richardson Support House Walking Group

2008-10-15T15:12:00.003+11:00

The Richardson Support House is looking for walkers in Richardson and surrounding community to join a fun, free walking group. All are welcome!

Fridays 1pm - 2pm

Meet at the Richardson Support House, 38 May Gibbs Close Richardson

Walking in a group helps you to stay motivated, is safe, and is great fun too! For more information go to www.heartfoundation.org.au/walking or contact the Support House.

Inside the Support House

2008-10-14T17:00:00.003+11:00

To Sir Alpha and Sir Beringar

2008-10-14T16:50:00.006+11:00

Sirs,

It has come to our attention that you bested our Champion in combat this October last.

Therefore, we declare war upon you and your household and challenge you to a combat, at a time and date that pleases you, to prove bravery and honour of our respective champions.

Yours sincerely,

The Ladies of Richardson Support House

Dated this eighth day of October in the 2008th year of our Lord

Seeking Feedback: Community Survey

2008-09-29T12:40:00.005+10:00

A Student Social Worker at the Support House is currently seeking feedback from members of the Richardson community via a survey. The purpose of the survey is to find out what activity the Support House can organise to meet local needs. For instance a walking group or homework club for children. If you would like a copy of the survey, or would like to have a chat about your ideas please call and ask to speak to Laura or pop in between 9.30am and 2.30pm.

Trauma and Victims of Crime

2008-09-29T12:13:00.003+10:00

Well, we've been running for 7 weeks now and things are going well. Richardson Support House is open for visitors to drop in and have a cuppa, sit in the massage chair, and browse through the health and wellbing pamphlets.

One unpleasant thing was that one Friday night a group of nine boys broke six windows of the building. So we arrived for work on Saturday morning to a terrible mess. It is also a pretty expensive exercise, particularly when we aren't very financial yet. It is disheartening when you are trying to be a great service for the community and something like this happens. So, on that note - let's look at people's wellbeing in relation to these types of incidents.

When you have been through a traumatic event, like being a victim or witness of crime, victims and witnesses can suffer emotional distress (see Frieze, Hymer & Greenberg, 1987 or Roberts & Green, 2007). Each person is affected by incidents, and copes with them, in their own unique way. People might feel anger, irritation, anxiety, guilt, fear, and depression. Some people may not react in these ways at all. These responses are all normal reactions.

It is important to look after yourself following these types of incidents. Talk it out if you feel like it, or some people find writing it out helps. There are also support agencies in Canberra that can help:

Victims of Crime Assistance League (ACT) Incorporated (VOCAL) (02) 6295 9600.

Office of the Victims of Crime Coordinator (02) 6217 4431 or 6217 4381

Canberra Rape Crisis Centre 24 hour crisis/support line on (02) 6247 2525

Frieze I, Hymer S, Greenberg M. Describing the crime victim: Psychological reactions to victimization. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice (1987) 18:299-315.

Roberts A, Green DL. Crisis intervention with crime victims. In: Victims of crime. (chap. 15) --

Davis RC, Lurigio AJ, Skogan WG, eds. (2007) Sage Publications.