For more information click here.
Tuesday, 16 July 2013
Friday, 12 July 2013
Press Release - Immediate Release 11/07/2013 Mental Health Reform
Mental
Health Reform welcomes new counselling service in primary care
Mental Health Reform welcomes today’s (11/07/13) launch of the Counselling in Primary Care service that will enable adult medical card holders throughout the country to access time-limited counselling through their GP.
In response to the launch, Dr. Shari McDaid, Mental Health Reform's spokesperson, commented: “One of the strongest messages to come out of the consultation that fed into the Government’s mental health policy A Vision for Change was that people in mental or emotional distress want alternatives to medication, including access to counselling and psychotherapy. The consensus at that time was that psychological therapies should be considered a fundamental component of basic mental health services. People who use mental health services and their family members have consistently told us that they want access to psychological therapies.”
Dr. Shari McDaid continued, “The roll-out of a national, free counselling service accessible through primary care is a welcome step towards meeting the need for alternatives to medication for mental and emotional distress. We view this as a positive measure to improve mental health in Ireland.”
“It will be important to monitor the impact of the service closely to see how far it goes to meeting the need for counselling services in primary care. Evidence shows that a majority of clients who seek psychotherapy would require 20-45 sessions in order to recover. The Counselling in Primary Care service provides short-term counselling with a maximum of eight sessions and there will still be a need for longer-term therapy for some clients.”
“The Counselling in Primary Care service also will not cater for individuals with moderate to severe mental health difficulties who will be required to seek access to psychological therapy through the mental health services. The Inspector of Mental Health Services reported in his review of services for 2012 that most people receiving mental health treatment are being offered a more traditional, medicalised version rather than that propounded in A Vision for Change. It is important that all the community mental health team staffing due in 2013 comes on stream this year to enable greater access to psychological therapies for people using mental health services as well”, Dr. McDaid concluded.
Mental Health Reform welcomes today’s (11/07/13) launch of the Counselling in Primary Care service that will enable adult medical card holders throughout the country to access time-limited counselling through their GP.
In response to the launch, Dr. Shari McDaid, Mental Health Reform's spokesperson, commented: “One of the strongest messages to come out of the consultation that fed into the Government’s mental health policy A Vision for Change was that people in mental or emotional distress want alternatives to medication, including access to counselling and psychotherapy. The consensus at that time was that psychological therapies should be considered a fundamental component of basic mental health services. People who use mental health services and their family members have consistently told us that they want access to psychological therapies.”
Dr. Shari McDaid continued, “The roll-out of a national, free counselling service accessible through primary care is a welcome step towards meeting the need for alternatives to medication for mental and emotional distress. We view this as a positive measure to improve mental health in Ireland.”
“It will be important to monitor the impact of the service closely to see how far it goes to meeting the need for counselling services in primary care. Evidence shows that a majority of clients who seek psychotherapy would require 20-45 sessions in order to recover. The Counselling in Primary Care service provides short-term counselling with a maximum of eight sessions and there will still be a need for longer-term therapy for some clients.”
“The Counselling in Primary Care service also will not cater for individuals with moderate to severe mental health difficulties who will be required to seek access to psychological therapy through the mental health services. The Inspector of Mental Health Services reported in his review of services for 2012 that most people receiving mental health treatment are being offered a more traditional, medicalised version rather than that propounded in A Vision for Change. It is important that all the community mental health team staffing due in 2013 comes on stream this year to enable greater access to psychological therapies for people using mental health services as well”, Dr. McDaid concluded.
For more Information please contact:
Lara Kelly at lkelly@mentalhealthreform.ie
087 6189715
Monday, 8 July 2013
24 Hour Emergency Services for Mental Health & Suicide
24 hour emergency numbers for mental health and suicide.
1 Life 1800247100 or text HELP to 51444
24 hour suicide prevention helpline & text message service for anyone in suicidal distress.
Samaritians 1850 60 90 90
24 hour, 7 day, confidental helpline for people in distress/despair.
Wednesday, 3 July 2013
Conference on preparing for Ireland’s forthcoming ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD).
On the 17th May 2013 Disability Federation of Ireland (DFI) and the Centre for Disability Law & Policy, at the National University of Ireland Galway jointly hosted a conference on preparing for Ireland’s forthcoming ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD).
A video of the conference has now been uploaded to the DFI website – Click here to view full conference!
A video of the conference has now been uploaded to the DFI website – Click here to view full conference!
The conference included presentation from Prof.
Theresia Degener (Professor of law and disability studies at Evangelische
Fachhochschule RWL - University of Applied Sciences in Bochum, Germany) who
spoke on her experiences as a Member of the UN Committee on the Rights of
Persons with Disabilities and what is involved in the ratification process. See
presentation
by Prof. Theresia Degener here.
Also presenting were Agnes Van Wijnen (Independent
Developer and Adviser on Disability Policy & Strategy, and Researcher in
Disability Studies) who spoke on her experience being involved
in grassroots initiatives involving organisations representing people with
disabilities, campaigning for ratification. See presentation
by Agnes Van Wijnen here.
The final speaker on the day, Prof. Gerard Quinn
(Director of the Centre for Disability Law and Policy at the National
University of Ireland, Galway School of Law.) focused on the area of legal
capacity reform. See presentation
by Prof. Gerard Quinn here.
For more information
on the UNCRPD or for general enquires, log onto our website www.disability-federation.ie or
your welcome to contact your DFI Support
Officer.
Tuesday, 2 July 2013
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)