Mental Health & Human Resilience

Background: The wellness group program assists with early discharges from acute setting, early intervention preventing relapse for mental health consumers who are at moderate to high risk. Based on relapse data for participants as opposed to non-participants and average length of stay the Wellness Program annually saves more than 300 acute bed days and save the service more than half a million dollars in bed costs. The mental health (MH) wellbeing program is an existing holistic therapeutic program to assist older consumers in their recovery journey and assist them to keep well in the community. It acts as a bridge on discharge from hospital setting and assist with community reintegration. The wellness group also works as a preventative vehicle and to minimize relapse in their recovery journey.

Aim: To provide support, psycho-education, MH promotion, in order to assist with older person's overall wellbeing, relapse prevention and quality of life in the community. The wellness group encourages the mental health and a sense of wellness amongst recently discharged consumers. The group provides specialist services to consumers with MH problems due to complex psychosocial circumstances and social isolation.

Rationale: One of the key strategies to address ongoing bed shortage and readmission is effectively to support consumers’ recovery outside the hospital setting through the provision of the community based wellness group program so that the consumers are assisted during their recovery process.

Membership of Wellness Group: The wellness group is open to all who are present with mental health issues and suitable for recovery and psychiatric rehabilitation.

Outcomes and Evaluation: The program has managed over 120 consumers since it was started 15 years ago. Despite complex and high risk profile of participants, the readmission rate of this patent has been consistently below 20% against standard rate of 50%.

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Recent Publications

1. 1.     Simpson, S.L., Langdon, R., Batchelor, J., Falcon, A.J. & Tyagi, S. 2013, A comprehensive study of individuals with Very-Late-Onset Schizophrenia-Like Psychosis.  4th European Conference for Schizophrenia Research, Berlin, Germany, September 2013.
2. 2.     Simpson, S.L., Langdon, R., Batchelor, J., Falcon, A.J. & Tyagi, S.  2013 Cognitive functioning in individuals >65 years with VLOSLP, Chronic Schizophrenia and Late Onset Psychotic Depression. 4th European Conference for Schizophrenia Research, Berlin, Germany, September 2013.
3. 3.  Suman Tyagi  September 2003  Assessment and Referral Issues- A Psychogeriatric Perspective, Australian Association of Gerontology Autumn September 2003 Page 4-5.
4. 4.  Suman Tyagi  Mental Health, 1997 ISBN-81-85070-45-8 pp. 1-188 (Authored a book based on doctoral research).
5. 5.  Suman Tyagi   1983  Intangibles in Marketing’, Indian Institute of Management  Journal Vikalpa Vol 8, January No 1. P. 20
6. 6.  Suman Tyagi   1997 People’s Perception about Mental illness-Implications for Psycho-social Rehabilitation Current Trends in Psychosocial Rehabilitation and Family Intervention Abstract of Papers March 1997 p. 27.
7. 7.     J E Cooper et.al Effects of Female Sterilization: One Year follow up in a prospective controlled study of psychological and psychiatric Outcome (S.Tyagi  as one of the WHO collaborative project investigators)  1985  Journal of Psychodynamic Research, Vol 29 No 1 pp 13-22.