Mental Illness: The Elephant In The Room
The Ramsay Way 2018 | 04 11
HOSPITAL NEWS
Ramsay staff have promoted mental health awareness through a variety of community and hospital initiatives.
The activities were held as part of official campaigns
for Mental Health Day, Week, and Month. These events
highlight the work being undertaken to assist Australians
with mental illness.
Ramsay Health Care is the largest provider of private
mental health services in Australia, operating 25 mental
health units with more than 1,000 beds.
More than 70,000 patients are treated through these
facilities each year by experienced clinicians in the fields
of mood disorders, drug and alcohol dependence, post-natal
depression, eating disorders, post-traumatic stress
disorder, and general mental health disorders.
Albert Road Clinic
Albert Road Clinic was an active participant in the
inaugural Victorian Mental Health Month which ran
from 7 October – 6 November.
In addition to the official opening of the Albert Road Clinic
expansion on 19 October, other activities during Mental
Health Month included:
• An exhibition stand at the Official Mental Health Month
Launch 2018.
• A barbecue for patients, staff and doctors.
• Community forums on Mental Health.
• The launch of new patient information brochures.
• An art therapy exhibition by patients of Albert
Road Clinic.
• Participation in the Mental Health Wellbeing Walk.
A team of eight people walked a 4.7km track around
Albert Park Lake to support the Mental Health
Foundation Australia.
Northside Group
Northside Group planned a range of activities at GP practices,
clinics and locations in the community to promote mental health
awareness. These included:
St Leonards Clinic:
• A shopping centre display with an inflatable elephant from the
Australian Private Hospitals Association. Staff also handed out
Northside Group affirmation cards, postcards, and mindfulness
meditation lunch time session flyers.
• A staff room display at the local Bunnings Warehouse store
with educational and promotional material.
• A free lunch time mindfulness meditation session at
St Leonards Clinic for local business staff.
• Posters distributed around the clinic throughout the week,
and an awareness morning tea for staff and patients on
10 October.
Macarthur Clinic:
• Displaying the Australian Private Hospital Association elephant
at a local shopping centre as a pop-up promotion of mental
health awareness and the current inpatient facility.
• Staff provided with a burnout psycho-education session
by allied health.
• Patients offered a barbecue to end Mental Health Week.
Shepparton Private Hospital
Shepparton Private Hospital established a display at a shopping
centre in Kialla which included an elephant from the Australian
Private Hospitals Association. Staff used this opportunity to
provide members of the community with mental health service
information, as well as educational and promotional material.
Greenslopes Private Hospital
Greenslopes Private Hospital hosted a Mental Health
Awareness morning tea on World Mental Health Day
(10 October).
Staff were invited to have a piece of cake or a donut and watch
a presentation by celebrity trainer and mental health advocate
Alexa Towersey .
The hospital also organised a “share for the day” competition
for staff. Employees were encouraged to get involved with
a different type of sharing each day – i.e. Monday: share a
hug, Tuesday: share a memory, Wednesday: share a meal,
Thursday: share a task.
Hillcrest Rockhampton Private Hospital
Hillcrest Rockhampton Private Hospital’s mental health facility,
Archerview Clinic, held several celebrations during Mental
Health Week.
Events included a collaborative barbecue with Rockhampton
Lions Club on 7 October, and a morning tea for all Hillcrest
Hospital staff on 10 October.
A “Just For The Health Of It” barbecue at Victoria Park was
intended to help stomp out stigma with informative displays
and promotion through local media coverage.
Hillcrest’s relationship with the Rockhampton Lions has been
built on the mutual agreement that inclusion of family and
friends in the education and promotion of positive mental
health is one of the most important aspects of supporting
a person in their recovery.