One of the programme’s key initiatives is the development of a MHA quality improvement facilitator course to provide frontline staff with improvement skills.
Beginning in August 2017, the eight-month course will build on the good work and research already done in this area in New Zealand, and capitalise on examples of good practice here and overseas.
Participants, who include frontline staff and consumers, will be supervised by experts. They will undertake an improvement project that is aligned with one of the five priority areas of the mental health and addiction programme.
- learning from serious adverse events and consumer experience
- maximising physical health
- improving service transitions
- minimising restrictive care by delivering care in environments that are safe, restful and support recovery and greater wellbeing
- improving medication management and prescribing.
The Commission, Ko Awatea and Counties Manukau Health will deliver the initiative, in collaboration with MHA workforce agency Te Pou o te Whakaaro Nui .
Te Pou works alongside DHB and NGO mental health, addiction and disability services, using a range of projects and expertise to support their activities. It is funded by the Ministry of Health.
Te Pou has done a lot of work in two of the mental health and addiction quality improvement programme’s priority areas, maximising physical health and minimising restrictive care.
It is a leading partner in the Equally Well programme, which aims to reduce physical health disparities between people who experience mental health and addiction problems and people who don’t.
Te Pou, with support from the Ministry of Health, has also developed a range of evidence-based tools to support inpatient mental health services to reduce seclusion and restraint . It collates and analyses national seclusion data and works with DHBs to encourage using the data to inform and improve practice change, alongside the use of Six Core Strategies© checklist.
Te Pou’s Values informed practice takes a deeper look at turning awareness and knowledge into practice and is part of the Let's get real programme .
Updates on Te Pou’s work are highlighted in the fortnightly e-bulletin. Click here to subscribe .
Last updated: 24th March, 2022
