Since launching in 2018, our Mental Health Integrated Complex Care (MHICC) program has delivered nearly 90,000 sessions and supported over 2300 people in South East Melbourne.

MHICC is a holistic program which offers care coordination, clinical nursing services, family support and improved access to psychiatrists and psychologists free of charge over an extended period (6-12 months) for people living with severe mental illness and complex needs, who are at risk of hospitalisation if appropriate treatment and care is not provided.

Our 2020-2025 Regional Plan found that 3% of people in South East Melbourne live with a severe mental illness requiring treatment. Our newly published Health Needs Assessment also found that high rates of mental health-related emergency department presentations occur in the SEMPHN region. In addition, intentional self-harm hospitalisations are higher in our catchment compared to Victoria for men in all age categories and women aged 25 years and over.

MHICC has a strong focus on ‘meeting people where they are at’ and providing support that matches their needs. Four providers (First Step, Mentis Assist, Mind Australia and Star Health) offer MHICC services covering all of SEMPHN’s LGAs: Port Phillip, Cardinia, Casey, Frankston, Mornington Peninsula, Greater Dandenong, Bayside, Glen Eira, Kingston and Stonnington. Services are delivered by a flexible integrated care team which can include mental health nurses, care coordinators, social workers, eligible mental health workers, psychologists and psychiatrists.

“Everyone’s mental illness journey is different, which is why the MHICC program is highly flexible and shaped around an individual’s unique and often complex needs. Our providers go above and beyond to support people in really challenging times, and participants often leave the program with more resilience and belief in themselves.” Meme Westney, SEMPHN Program Lead.

For many, family understanding and support is crucial to living well with a mental illness and complex needs. Carrie Weiss, MHICC Coordinator at Star Health, says family support and liaison is an integral part of the program.

“When a loved one is first given a mental health diagnosis it’s often an emotional time for a family. It can be confusing, filled with relief or stressful. It’s also a time where some clients feel alone. Care needs to be extended beyond the person living with mental illness. That’s why we support both the client and their family by providing education sessions to help them understand the diagnosis, possible treatments and strategies to manage. We recently hosted a lunch for carers, as an opportunity for them to come together, connect and have some time off from their often exhausting roles.”

More recently, Star Health has piloted a lived experience peer worker within their MHICC program to help clients connect with others who have faced similar challenges.

Mellisa, lived experience peer worker, said that she had multiple periods of unwellness, including hospital admissions, medication changes, mental health case management and other interventions.

“My complex case history places me in the unique position to empathise and engage with consumers that have bounced around services and/ or had difficulty starting or maintaining their recovery,” she explained.

“I will often share some of the personal challenges I have faced in my mental health journey as a way of showing where l could have tried different strategies. I also speak to consumers about helpful conversations l have had with specialists around my condition to support them to advocate for themselves, create agency and feel a part of their recovery. Supporting consumers to be the boss of their mental illness and not the other way around is one of my proudest achievements in my own recovery“.