Whanganui Rising to the Challenge: Mental Health & Addiction

Welcome to the Whanganui Rising to the Challenge implementation project – bringing Whanganui's Rising to the Challenge: The Mental Health and Addiction Service Development Framework to life and action.

In March 2014, the framework was completed and has since been approved by both Whanganui DHB and the Ministry of Health. This framework is a road map for the development of Whanganui’s mental health and addiction services over the next five years and beyond.

The framework was developed in response to national policy work in mental health and addictions. However, very early on Whanganui recognised that the local response had much wider applications across all health and social services.

Finding a starting point to implement such an aspirational framework has not been easy and expectations are high! The sponsors of the work knew that making it happen would require leadership at all levels and would be resource and time intensive. This has certainly proven to be the case.

Building on the relationships developed during development of the framework, the DHB is coordinating the process of improving health service delivery, initially in three areas:

Creating an improved journey for the confused older person, for example, people with delirium, dementia or substance related issues;
Developing a triage function between specialist mental health services, general practice teams and community organisations;
Better coordination of assessment and management of children and young people presenting with behavioural difficulties.

The project will use the framework to help deliver a recovery focused, seamless journey for consumers and their families.

The next 12 months will see a multitude of small scale change projects undertaken by individual workstreams.

By working a on alot of small changes we are aiming to fix the processes and systems that can be made better and developing new ways of working based on the stories and experiences of service users and their families.

Click here to view Whanganui's Rising to the Challenge The Mental Health and Addiction Service Development Framework document.