Search results

One strategy to improve access to mental health care for Aboriginal people is to increase the number of Aboriginal Mental Health Workers. The New South Wales (NSW) Aboriginal Mental Health Worker Training Program is underpinned by the principle of 'growing your own workforce'. Trainees are recruited from local communities to work in local communities. They are supported through a structured on-the-job supervision and training program as well as tertiary-based learning. Trainees are permanent, full-time employees of NSW Health. Funded by the NSW Government in 2006, the program is being implemented across all NSW Area Mental Health Services and from 2008-09 is moving from Phase One of the program, 10 positions across five areas, to Phase Two of the program, an additional nine positions. This will bring to more than 70 the number of Aboriginal Mental Health Workers in NSW. This review documents the events of the first year of the training program, and the processes and structures that have been put into place to implement the program. Sound practices, with examples, are highlighted and challenges are identified. These are based on the experiences and reflections of program participants. Particular points are made through the use of case stories as told by participants. The findings of the review indicate that, while the full impact of the program will only be demonstrated in years to come, it is already showing that it can build and sustain a workforce through the approach of coordinating work and study for the trainees within a system of peer support, supervision and mentoring.