More families suffering with perinatal illness in Western Australia are now able to access St John of God (SJG) Raphael Services as a result of the service’s growth in 2017.
Staffed by a multidisciplinary team of mental health clinicians, SJG Raphael Services provides secondary level specialised mental health services to families in the pre-conception, perinatal and infancy stages, up to the child’s fourth birthday.
SJG Raphael Services are available to all members of the community, not just St John of God Health Care patients, and are provided free of charge or at minimal cost.
The central site for all Raphael Services in WA is located in Wembley, which is connected to satellite locations in Fremantle, Cockburn and Midland.
Director Raphael Services, Helen McAllister, said the service was proud of the unique care it provided to its clients and that it would continue to expand in 2017 to help meet the needs of more parents and families.
“We’ve changed our model of care by introducing a hub, satellite and spoke delivery structure,”
We established the hub in Wembley late in 2016 and recently expanded our services in Midland and started a new outreach service in Cockburn,” she said.
“This approach to service delivery means that rather than expecting our clients to travel to access care, we are and will continue to take our services into the areas of greatest need, to where people are disadvantaged, by geography, economic circumstances and where limited health services may exist.”
Over the past six months Raphael Services WA delivered 2,170 individual counselling sessions, providing perinatal mental health care to more than 350 parents in WA.
In addition more than 100 group therapy sessions were held.
“Raphael Services are dedicated to early intervention, prevention, mental health treatment and health promotion. We focus on helping parents to understand and manage their emotional health as well as providing tools to improve and sustain a healthy relationship with their infant/s and partners,” Ms McAllister said.
“Our service is underpinned by Attachment Theory and to deliver this approach all of our clinical caregivers are trained in the core competencies in attachment theory and practice.
“We are working steadily to expand our service to include further outer metropolitan, regional and rural areas in WA. Our objective is to make Raphael Services as accessible as possible for West Australian parents and families that are struggling to maintain their emotional wellbeing.”
St John of God Social Outreach provides significant care and relief in areas where gaps in health and wellbeing services have been identified. Our Social Outreach services are available to all members of the community, not just St John of God Health Care patients or those with private health insurance, and are accessible free of charge or at minimal cost.