Small steps bring hope for change at the first Safer Care Victoria Equally Well Forum

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Small steps bring hope for change at the first Safer Care Victoria Equally Well Forum

A shared energy for change and a focus on collaboration and connection was the consensus for participants in Safer Care Victoria’s first Equally Well Forum.

Event organiser and Senior Project Officer, Equally Well Trudy Brown said the event, showcased how the small steps people are taking in their own organisations and within their own clinical practice, are making a difference in improving physical health and quality of life for people living with mental illness.

“There was a real buzz in the room all day as we heard some terrific presentations from a diverse range of mental health services providers and clinicians about new ways we could work better together, to address physical health care in mental health care,” Trudy said.

“The key question people were asking each other, as they met and made new connections, was ‘How can we do what we do and make it better?’.”

The forum was part of Safer Care Victoria’s plan to engage health services in finalising the updated Safer Care Victoria Equally Well Framework. The framework aims to provide key actions in 12 priority areas (increased from 8) for health workers to more easily be able to integrate physical and mental health systems and clinical practice.

The forum on June 5 drew 140 health workers from across Victoria with presentations on topics such as mental health and nutrition, incorporating physical activity in mental health treatments, physical health priorities for Aboriginal mental health, and how being proactive with engaging cancer screenings can help reduce high numbers of excess deaths, in people living with mental illness.

Equally Well National Director Prof Russell Roberts presented the latest research from the Unequally Unwell report and took the opportunity to network with the Victorian participants.

“There is some really inspiring work happening in communities right across Victoria; We had a GP talking about how she operates within a mental health community clinic prioritising physical health in a mental health setting. We also had a nurse practitioner present her work helping young people address their physical health needs as an integral part of their mental health treatment.”

Trudy takes an active role in developing an Equally Well focus in her own clinical role as mental health nurse practitioner in an in-patient facility.

“I know that change can happen but sometimes you have to be willing to be the first to make the move or do things differently. I am one of those people who is happy to be ahead of the game, learn something new and bring others along with me.

“It’s really rewarding expanding clinical skills and being able to offer more services to your patients. For example, I am planning to take a bus load of my patients across the road (from the hospital) to get breast cancer screening very soon.”

Trudy said one of the main points raised by forum participants was the growing recognition that the health system is finally acknowledging that you can’t have good mental health without good physical health.

“Little steps are happening and things are changing with new models of care and more people taking action and doing things differently.”

“We don’t have to be everything to everyone but if I don’t have the skills then I can always point them I the right direction which can make a real difference.”

Safer Care Victoria plans to launch the new Equally Well Framework by the end of 2025 to implement into practice from 2026.

More information:

Equally Well and the Mental Health Professionals Network (MHPN) have teamed up to coordinate an Equally Well Community of Practice – Clinicians in mental and physical health being coordinated by Trudy Brown. Visit this link to register your interest.