MENTAL HEALTH LEGISLATION, POLICIES AND STANDARDS

Australia Mental Health Legislation, Policies and Standards

Australia Mental Health Legislation, Policies and Standards

Legislation, Policies and Practice Standards Contemporary Australia mental health legislation and policy have been going through important changes. These practice domains reflect those outlined in AASW (2003) Social Work Practice Standards: Achieving Outcomes. The AASW (2003) practice standards outline minimum practice standards and practice outcomes for all social workers regardless of their context. Practice Standards for Mental Health Social Workers (2008) builds on these outlining specific contextual knowledge and standards required for social workers in the field of mental health. Mental Health social workers are encouraged to work towards applying both sets of standards in their practice. Legislation Working with individuals, families, groups and communities comprises those standards in which the focus of social work activity is the client - as individual, the family, groups and communities. The individual as client. Working with individual clients comprises all those activities in which the focus of practice is the individual client, specifically relationship building, assessment, advocacy, case management and intensive casework. The standards distinguish between family work and working with individuals who may be family members of the primary consumer. Individual intensive work with family members is best conceptualized as intensive casework. Family work requires that the social worker consider the family unit as the focus of professional practice. Balancing the competing demands of individual and family work is basic to effective practice in this complex domain. Currently, there is consideration to expand this social worker inclusion in the community through the provision of GP style surgeries; whereby, the social worker would offer consultations similar to that of a doctor's (McIvor 1998). Involuntary detention and treatment: hospital and community If a plan offers out-of-network benefits for medical / surgical care, it must also offer out-of-network coverage for mental health and addiction treatment and provide services at parity. The community as client. Definitions of "community" within the practice literature reflect a range of theoretical and ideological positions. A pragmatic and inclusive definition is used here. "Community" means a group defined in geographical, cultural, economic, social, demographic, or special interest terms. The essence of community is a sense of common bond, the sharing of an identity, or membership to a group holding things in common. Mental health problems and treatments In 2005, the World Health Organization (WHO) produced, in collaboration with European Ministers, a framework that would provide a comprehensive, political commitment for mental health. The ensuing green paper provided Europe with a debate on the issues of mental health and how best to improve service provision (Martin 2006). The social work profession has been active in many areas of health and social welfare, including mental health, family welfare, aged care and the welfare of migrants and ethnic communities, using practice methods such as individual counseling, community work, group work, social action, social planning and social policy. Social work qualifying courses are generic programs that prepare graduates for practice across this diversity of fields and methods, and this ...