WISH you were here in the Kimberley
Recently, members of our WA Country Health Service Infant, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (ICAMHS) Specialist Hub – known as WISH – travelled to the Kimberley to meet with our Broome and Kununurra ICAMHS teams.
WISH is a dedicated multidisciplinary team of specialised practitioners, including Aboriginal Mental Health Workers, and Lived Experience (Peer) Workers, who provide virtual specialist advice, care, and interventions to support children, young people, and their families.
The visit also included meeting with the local Aboriginal Mental Health Workers, Broome Headspace and Ord Valley Aboriginal Health Service.
Executive Director Mental Health and Aboriginal Health Strategy Paula Chatfield said the visit enabled important stakeholder engagement opportunities.
“While a virtual service, in-person visits help the team to foster important on-the-ground connections, not just with their peers, but with partner agencies and members of the community,” Paula said.
“It means the WISH team can understand what unique needs each ICAMHS team and local agencies may have to enable tailoring the clinical support and advice appropriately to fit these unique and individual family needs.
As part of the visit, local Aboriginal Health Workers took WISH staff on cultural tours, which highlighted cultural diversity between Aboriginal groups.
We know this is fundamental to improving mental health, and mental health access for Aboriginal people, particularly children and young people.
“Additionally, the visit helped to strengthen Kimberley ICAMHS teams’ knowledge of WISH services – including referral pathways – and facilitated important feedback, which is something that helps us to shape how these services are delivered.”
WISH is a key initiative delivering on the Infant, Child and Adolescent (ICA) System Transformation Program to expand the function and availability of virtual mental health care across Western Australia and increasing the capability and expertise of the ICA mental health workforce.
Click here for more information on WISH.