By Aaron Cordy
ACCESSING wellbeing supports in regional centres is a different beast than what is faced by people in capital cities. Country communities face fires, floods and droughts, along with relationship breakups, deaths in the family, job loss and the general struggle of managing life in this hectic world.
The Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System recommended a need for wellbeing support that is designed and delivered by people who have their own lived experience of dealing with psychological distress. Under that directive, Mind Australia has partnered with Primary Care Connect Shepparton to deliver the Distress Brief Support Trial in Greater Shepparton.
The basis of the program is to support people through what might be a temporary kind of distress situation and prevent it from escalating into a more challenging situation. Jacquie Simpson is the trial’s community engagement development worker. Working for PCC, she is currently supporting with codesign workshops and collaborations with local community organisations to ensure the service matches Shepparton’s needs.
“Greater Shepparton has been identified, through a combination of our experiences, as the regional centre in Victoria to roll out the trial,” said Jacquie.
“There’s been drought in this area. We were very much locked down in the COVID time, that two-year period we were the only regional town locked down. Then there was a huge amalgamation of all high schools and then a flood. On the last census, people were very honest, and we’re the highest in the state for reaching out for wellbeing support.”
The program will offer two to three weeks of support to provide immediate, compassionate tailored care for locals experiencing distress. The idea for this kind of short-term support came via the Scottish Distress Brief Intervention Program, established in 2016. That program demonstrated a significant benefit to the community as a whole as well as to individuals accessing the support.
A series of seven co-design workshops are being held, to ensure the service is adapted and designed to suit the needs of the local Shepparton community. Each has 12 participants across the Greater Shepparton community from diverse backgrounds and lived experiences. The pilot is set to roll out in July 2025.
“To have something on a grassroots level, I think it’s going to be amazing. I think it’s a great thing that people in Greater Shepparton will be able to reach out for immediate support,” said Jacquie.
