National Initiatives & Activities Scan

An invitation to share your efforts and successes with us, big or small; we want to hear about it.

Equally Well

Equally Well, a collective of almost a hundred partner organisations across Australia is a movement for change. Since 2017, Equally Well has sought to improve the quality of life of people with a lived experience of mental health challenges. By promoting physical health and equity of access to physical health care as a priority and supporting increased coordination and collaboration between a diverse range of partner organisations, Equally Well aims to improve health and reduce the life expectancy gap between people with a lived experience of mental health issues and the general population.

Activities Scan

The WA Department of Health is partnering with Equally Well to undertake an Initiatives and Activities Scan of all the work in WA to improve the physical health of people with a lived experience of mental health issues – your efforts, successes, ideas and works in progress. This information will paint a collective picture of what is currently happening in the state.

If you would like to contact the WA Department of Health about the Activities Scan, please email Rikki Ismail, Senior Program Officer, Mental Health Unit at mhu@health.wa.gov.au

‘Equally Well is invested in supporting our partners, exploring and recognising their great activities and initiatives in this space and elevating this work through promotion, advocacy and connections that seek to spread best practice programs at both State and National levels.’

How will the information from the scan be used?

The WA Department of Health will use the scan to:

1. Identify needs and gaps in WA for improving the physical health of people with mental health issues.

2. Recommend priorities for expanding existing initiatives and/or initiating new work in WA for improving the physical health of people with mental health issues.

The scan will contribute to Equally Well’s continuing work by identifying, sharing, and facilitating learning from a diversity of approaches to enhance how we can all work together towards improving the physical health of people with mental health issues. The scan also allows the Equally Well project team to reach out, strengthen existing relationships, build connections and (with your consent) showcase your work.

Previous scans completed by Equally Well in 2018 and 2019, showcased 380 actions underway and 152 planned across the lifespan, focusing on a range of areas, including physical health screening and treatment, medication and side effects, physical activity, social and community engagement and advocacy. These actions were driven and supported by committed peer workers, lived experience consultants, health professionals, researchers, project/policy officers and executive leadership.

How will the information about my project be shared?

Equally Well intends housing a summary of the initiatives and activities being undertaken on the Equally Well website to share as a resource. High-level information will also be included in Equally Well’s report to the Australian Government and provided to other stakeholders interested in the impact of the work being undertaken. There will also be an opportunity to identify work to promote at future Equally Well and other symposiums and conferences.

Information Privacy

No information provided will be shared, released, or promoted without your organisation’s consent and authorisation. Equally Well will also adhere to any intellectual property rights protections in place.

How to take part in the Initiatives and Activities Scan?

You can complete the online survey yourself. If you would like assistance or have any questions about the scan you can contact Equally Well via email scan@equallywell.org.au. Alternatively you can contact the WA Department of Health by emailing Rikki Ismail, Senior Program Officer, Mental Health Unit at mhu@health.wa.gov.au.

We suggest you choose a time where you can be (relatively) distraction free for a little while. It may be helpful to pull together any information on your recent, current and planned activities/initiatives relating to physical health prior to starting the survey. To assist you with this, the document attached/below summarises the questions in the scan.

After completing a set of questions about one of your activities, you will be asked to repeat this same set of questions for the other physical health initiatives that you have recently undertaken or will be undertaking.

If you have multiple related initiatives, activities and/or programs (e.g. a suite of policies or resources, or inter-related programs) you can report these altogether under one activity. In these circumstances, there is no need for you to create separate entries.

If you have questions before starting, please contact Equally Well via email: scan@equallywell.org.au.

Complete the online survey yourself

Download/Print and complete yourself

View the questions before beginning the survey.

If you would like to contact the WA Department of Health about the scan, please email Rikki Ismail, Senior Program Officer, Mental Health Unit at mhu@health.wa.gov.au.

‘Equally Well seeks to nurture and grow a diverse movement of organisations, representative bodies, teams and individuals, all aspiring to improve the physical health and wellbeing of people with a lived experience of mental health issues. The scan seeks to be a living document and tribute to those aspirations.’

Russel Roberts