March 2011
Minister for Mental Health Mary
Wooldridge and Melissa Lowndes.
Mental health unit opens at Monash
The $3.3 million Monash
Prevention and Recovery Care (PARC) service is run by Southern Health and
Eastern Region Mental Health Association.
‘The Government has a strong
commitment to improving access to mental health care and we will expand PARC
services across Victoria, including for demographic groups such as young people
and women,’ Ms Wooldridge said.
PARC services are short-stay,
residential facilities providing early intervention for people experiencing a
mental illness, as well as a safe place for people to recover after a period of
hospital admission.
Ms Wooldridge said services like
the Monash PARC were a positive step forward in the treatment and care of
people with a mental illness in a community setting.
‘The Monash PARC can care for up
to 10 residents and offers supervised care 24 hours a day, seven days a
week for a maximum stay of four weeks,’ Ms Wooldridge said.
‘Services include
individually-tailored recovery care planning for residents, day-to-day support
and recovery services, as well as supervision and monitoring by mental
healthcare specialists.
‘The Monash PARC will provide vital step-down care for people no longer needing hospital treatment for mental illness, while also reducing pressure on hospital beds by providing early intervention care and an alternative to hospital admission,’ Ms Wooldridge said.
