Person-centred care and teamwork are a winning combination for Jo Mulder

Bunbury local Joukje (Jo) Mulder leads the WA Country Health Service’s Infant, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (ICAHMS) team in the South West.

With a background in social work, Ms Mulder started working in mental health within an adult intensive rehabilitation team, providing care for patients with acute and chronic presentations through a biopsychosocial model of care.

She then moved to Darwin where she continued working in adult mental health before relocating to the Midwest to pursue a role at WA Country Health Service’s Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) Team.

The child and adolescent model and its holistic approach to care is something that resonated with Ms Mulder.

“It looks at the person and the system to tailor interventions – involving the family in what we hope to achieve and what the timelines are,” Ms Mulder said. 

This affinity with holistic care is what led her back to her hometown of Bunbury to help establish the WA Country Health Service’s South West new Community Infant, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (ICAMHS) hub.

ICAMHS uses an innovative model of care that provides a central point of contact for all children and young people needing mental health support in the region.

Officially opened in April of this year, Ms Mulder is proud of everything the ICAMHS team has achieved so far.

“In what can sometimes be a challenging field, the team is what keeps everything working,” she said. 

“They are very supportive of each other and very uplifting. It’s nice to lead such a passionate group of people. They are a team who I know will step up.”

And Ms Mulder can’t see herself working anywhere else.

“ICAHMS fits with me – it’s where I want to stay,’ she said.

And the work-life balance country WA offers definitely helps.

“Bunbury is a great place to live,” she said.

“There is lots to do on the weekend, you are close to Busselton, Margaret River, Yallingup, Dunsborough. And the Ferguson Valley is a hidden gem. Plus, Bunbury is only two hours from Perth, it’s closer than you think.”

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