HMST - WMH Clinic Rural and Regional Access Project

With generous support from the Helen Macpherson Smith Trust, MAPrc is now able to offer access to our unique Women's Mental Health Clinic for patients and their GP's from rural and regional Victoria using telepsychiatry. The service greatly improves access for women who have difficulty accessing specialised treatment and builds knowledge and confidence in women's mental health of treating regional GPs.

One in five Australian women suffer from a mental health disorder every year. The Australian Bureau of Statistics identified that 43% of women aged 18-65 had a mental health issue at some point in their lives, and in the preceding year, women had higher rates than men of suicidal thoughts and plans.

Compounding the issue in rural and regional areas is the lack of access to mental health treatment and support. Recent research reported that 15% of specialists, but 30% of the population, live in rural and remote areas, reinforcing the need for more accessible health services in these regions.

MAPrc’s telehealth initiative aims to improve much needed access for women in rural and regional Victoria to specialised mental health services. This service is aimed at meeting the following important needs:

1. Provision of safe and secure specialist consultations using the latest in telehealth technology

2. Liaison with rural and regional General Practitioners to provide comprehensive assessment, investigation, treatment and review of their female patients with mental health conditions

3. Improvement of GP understanding and expertise in women's mental health through our collaborative approach to working with both the referring GP's and their patients

For more information or to refer patients to the WMH clinic, contact our clinic coordinator on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays:

Tel: 03 9076 9895

Fax: 03 9903 0762

or email maprc-wmhc@monash.edu.

To connect to your appointment on Coviu, click here.

Resources:

Women's Mental Health toolkit for rural and regional GPs

Information and fact sheets on mental illnesses

The MAPrc WMH clinic are extremely grateful to HMST for funding this project.