News • 28 Jun 2019

PHaMs and PIR to cease

After many years of running the Personal Helpers and Mentors (PHaMs) and Partners in Recovery (PIR) programs, funding is coming to an end and these programs will cease to exist. Here’s what we’re doing at Open Minds to help ensure our clients have access to other forms of support.

Over the past few months, our staff have already been busy helping our clients to transition to the best alternative support options to suit their needs.

With no more support available through PHaMs or PIR, the other support options available to our current clients are:

No new clients are being on-boarded to the Open Minds PIR or PHaMs programs from the 1st July 2019.

However, over the next 12 months, Open Minds has been provided with some funding to establish transitional teams to continue to support all current clients to access these new support streams.

Our transitional teams have been setup in IpswichMorayfieldTaringa and Capalaba, and we have staff acting in Transition Officer roles for up to 12 months.

Having run these programs for many years at Open Minds and having seen numerous clients benefit from these programs, we are sad to see these programs come to an end.

Thank you to all staff who have worked on these programs for your hard work and dedication over the years.

Dr Peter Anderson, Acting CEO of Open Minds, said: “Having run PIR and PHaMs for many years at Open Minds and having seen numerous clients benefit from these programs, I am sad to see these programs come to an end. I am grateful to the staff who have worked on these programs for their hard work and dedication.”

What was PHaMs?

PHaMs services take a strengths-based recovery approach to helping participants better manage their daily activities and reconnect with their community.

PHaMs services provide holistic support including providing links with other services such as housing support, employment and education, drug and alcohol rehabilitation, independent living skills courses, clinical services and other mental health and allied health services, while ensuring services accessed by participants are coordinated, integrated and complementary to other services in the community.

Personal Helpers and Mentors (PHaMs) is an Australian Government initiative administered by the Commonwealth Department of Social Services (DSS). PHaMs services aim to increase recovery opportunities for people whose lives are severely affected by their experience of mental illness.

–    The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare

What was PIR?

PIR aims to support people with severe and persistent mental illness with complex needs and their carers and families, by getting multiple sectors, services and supports they may come into contact with (and could benefit from) to work in a more collaborative, coordinated and integrated way. 

The ultimate objective of PIR is to improve the system response to, and outcomes for, people with severe and persistent mental illness who have complex needs by:

  • facilitating better coordination of clinical and other supports and services to deliver person centred support individually tailored to the person’s needs
  • strengthening partnerships and building better links between various clinical and community support organisations responsible for delivering services to the PIR target group
  • improving referral pathways that facilitate access to the range of services and supports needed by the PIR target group and
  • promoting a community based recovery model to underpin all clinical and community support services delivered to people experiencing severe and persistent mental illness with complex needs.

–    Australian Government Department of Health

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