Diversity in Health 2008

A COLLABORATIVE TRAINING PROJECT: “WORKING EFFECTIVELY WITH INTERPRETERS IN PSYCHIATRIC DISABILITY SUPPORT SETTINGS”
Sylvia Collinetti, Victorian Transcultural Psychiatry;  Xenia Girdler, Psychiatric Disability Service of Victoria (VICSERV); Maria Maggio De Leo, Interpreter

This presentation describes a collaborative project between Psychiatric Disability Service of Victoria (VICSERV), Action on Disability within Ethnic Communities (ADEC) and the Victorian Transcultural Psychiatry Unit (VTPU), where training on ‘Working Effectively with Interpreters in Psychiatric Disability Support Services’ was delivered throughout rural and metropolitan areas of Victoria.

The aim of the project was to improve the capacity of Psychiatric Disability Rehabilitation Support Services (PDRSS) staff to provide appropriate services to people whose first language is not English by developing their skills and confidence in working with interpreters. The collaboration was established on the basis that each organisation was able to provide the project with complementary skills and experience: ADEC has excellent knowledge of CALD issues as they pertain to PDRSSs, VICSERV (as the peak body for PDRSSs) has excellent links with services, and is a training provider recognised by the sector, having delivered extensive training; and VTPU, which had developed the training program on working effectively with interpreters, wished to make the training available to PDRSS agencies.  At the outset, it was unclear to what extent people whose first language is not English are accessing PDRSSs and therefore how relevant the training would be perceived to be.  The collaboration enabled mutual education whereby VICSERV and ADEC informed the VTPU on how to effectively contact and engage PDRSSs.  Conversely, VTPU provided a training module that had been delivered successfully to clinical mental health services staff and could be adapted to the needs of PDRSS staff. The training was delivered throughout both rural and metropolitan Victoria.  The training, which included active participation by an experienced interpreter trainer (MMDL) and the presentation of a role play, demonstrated how to work effectively with interpreters.  The interpreter trainer also provided PDRSS staff with the perspective of an interpreter – an essential consideration in the interpreted interview.

The project involved a great deal of strategic thought and co-ordination.  This paper will provide an overview of the training model, the process of engaging services and promoting the training, and reflections on the implementation of the project.

Brief Biography on the Authors:
Sylvia Collinetti
Sylvia is a registered clinical psychologist. She started with the VTPU in June 2006.  Sylvia has eight years experience working in public mental health services, having worked as an Italian Bilingual Case Manager, Ethnic Mental Health Co-ordinator, and psychologist.  Sylvia is very passionate about working in a culturally sensitive manner with Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) consumers and carers who experience mental illness within their family. 

Moving forward - exploring the connections of Church towards a religious pathway to recovery.
Evan Bichara

As a person with a psychiatric setback, Evan will explain what it is like for him to be a member of the Greek Orthodox Church. This presentation will demonstrate how Evan has become a welcome member and a full citizen of the Church. He does not just attend Church but also takes on a leadership role in being an active Committee member, assisting with the workings of the Church in many different ways. Despite Evan’s illness, he has been able to make considerable contribution to the life of the Church in numerous ways; welcoming people to the Church, giving talks on “wellness” within and outside the Church community and encouraging others with his big smile which shines as he worships our supreme God. During the presentation Evan will explore what it means to be “no longer a foreigner to society but a fellow citizen with God’s people and members of God’s household. Evan no longer feels marginalized, finds the Church therapeutic and continues his daily life working as a Consumer Advocate in Victoria where he can assist others not only by role modeling by example but by “advocating” for others who do not yet have the confidence to voice their concerns. Evan will communicate about his life and spiritual journey from valuing the Church from childhood and growing up with a disability which set him back from attaining a higher education and a sustainable job; though Evan’s spiritual determination coupled with constant perseverance to hard work has made Evan reach those two vocations graciously.

Spectrum of Cultures Consumer group adds to forming a myriad of positive actions in a positive environment with positive influences.
Evan Bichara

Evan will explore the benefits of the Spectrum of Cultures group with the Community. In facilitating the group Evan has needed to find a balance between group activities and mind thinking tasks. A balance is necessarily to constitute effective participation including friendships forming. The aim of the group was so people of different cultures can come together enhancing their culture and share support with information from a variety of organizations allowing them to participate in the Community. All group members have acquired the understanding that without the influence of a positive environment and striving for a  positive attitude, we will always continue to struggle in life’s journey. We have learnt to think simple & create positive actions for ourselves and for the group. An honest approach and a sense of humour go a long way in changing people’s perception. We continue to impart this to other consumers so that by being inclusive to our Community we could improve the mental health services servicing other consumers. This snow balling effect will ultimately diminish some of the existing flaws the system has created.

Cultural Sporting Impact on Mental Health and Wellbeing can have benefits to those with mental illness in many ways.
Evan Bichara

Leisure, particularly in sport is considered to be an important part of life for every individual. This is even more so for people with a mental illness, who  have limited employment prospects, fewer life options and have a greater need to socially integrate into the Community. In this presentation, I will outline the benefits of my sporting career as a soccer player, then as a coach and later to an official referee. This experience has promoted my wellbeing with my daily pursuits and living with a mental illness. Through this creative intervention in the Community, I have been able to demonstrate, not only to myself, but to many others, that it has been absolutely beneficial to engage in a sporting activity – in my case soccer. It provided me with an opportunity to acquire & improve social skills. It increased the circle of friends. It has rewarded me with intellectual stimulation and significant relaxation. It increased self confidence and allowed me to acquire physical and mental skill and competencies. I was also able to develop a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction. Most importantly I had fun in the process and created a sense of social identity and belonging to the community. It also has allowed me to integrate with the diverse ethnic communities; understand some of their traditions, their cultural foods, their customs and their ways of doing things back in their homeland.

A CALD Consumer Advocate welcoming work for and with his peers to develop effectively the outcomes of services – his strength is in the method of “Advocacy”.
Evan Bichara

This paper will outline how Evan has moved towards working collaboratively with other Consumers, Carers, Clinicians and managerial staff in government, schools, clinics and other community settings – advocating on Local, State and National levels to demonstrate a consumer’s capacity to be responsive and enhance delivery of service in the CALD Consumer movement as well as in mainstream mental health. Evan’s involvement at a national level with the Australian Mental Health Consumer Network board member and the Multicultural Mental Health of Australia Consortium consumer representative incorporates a consumer experience into a process of leadership at a national level to improve and enhance a range of service delivery models which have direct effect on the lives of people with mental health problems. Continual feedback of how consumer participation at that level can be consistently positive and a powerful learning experience notonly for Evan but for the many other consumers he integrates himself with. Historically Mental Health Services have not effectively worked with consumers (nor Carers) and have neither welcomed nor encouraged their input. Encounters between these groups have traditionally been confrontational and unproductive. However Evan believes that with the advances in treatments – consumers & carers are at a point where they could advocate effectively and take a leadership role in this area. Evan will talk about “Effective Advocacy” and what it implies to be a good advocate. Whilst the consumer movement is fast growing in strength throughout Australia the majority of staff working in mental health services are having difficulty in coming to terms with the shift in power base and rise in advocacy of people once totally in their care. However Evan will illustrate how effective advocacy could counter balance this power base to include everyone as equal including us mere consumers.

Evan Bichara’s Biography:

7 years with the Victorian Transcultural Psychiatry Unit  as a ConsumerAdvocate.
5 years on the Aust.Mental Health Consumer Network as a  Board member.
15 years with Mental Illness Fellowship(Vic) as a Community Educator/Trainer
In all I advocate & lobby through many other networks locally & beyond.

Working towards wellbeing with the African Child/Youth and their families: Addressing settlement and integration
Sylvia Collinetti, Sarah Murgia & Marie Piu

The recent migration of people from Africa to Australia has highlighted the need for mainstream health and educational organisations to form links with ethno-specific service providers, in delivering culturally appropriate services to children, youth and their families. This presentation describes the collaborative process used to establish an African Child and Youth Working Group (ACYWG) to develop a series of workshops. The workshops are designed to address cultural information gaps among mental health clinicians, educators and community agencies, to assist these service providers to meet the needs of young people within the African community in a culturally appropriate manner.  Some of the issues confronting services include limitations of traditional psychological assessment tools in assessing learning and emotional difficulties and lack of communication between community and mainstream service providers, resulting in a fragmented treatment approach. The workshops provide a cultural context addressing such issues as African pre-settlement experiences (including refugee camp experiences), African family settlement in the host country, traditional parenting styles, and issues facing unaccompanied minors. The workshops also explore current research into the lived experience of young Africans in Australia, and incorporate panel discussions to facilitate communication amongst service representatives from the mental health, educational, and community sectors. It is hoped that these workshops will promote better outcomes and equip workers from these sectors to develop culturally appropriate interventions, and will lead to positive sustainable long-term health care solutions.

Brief Biography on the Authors:

Sylvia Collinetti
Sylvia is a registered clinical psychologist. She started with the VTPU in June 2006.  Sylvia has eight years experience working in public mental health services, having worked as an Italian Bilingual Case Manager, Ethnic Mental Health Co-ordinator, and psychologist.  Sylvia is very passionate about working in a culturally sensitive manner with Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) consumers and carers who experience mental illness within their family. 

Sarah Murgia
Sarah is a registered clinical psychologist. She commenced at the VTPU in 2006 as an Education and Service Development Consultant. She previously worked in public mental health, providing psychological services to individuals suffering mental illness and their families. Sarah was involved in the Bilingual Case Management program in Victoria, working with consumers and carers in the Italian community.  She has completed research exploring psychological functioning in young refugees and migrants.

Marie Piu
Marie Piu is a registered psychologist who has been working with the VTPU since 1997.  Her role works towards improving mental health service access and delivery for people of CALD backgrounds and includes project management, service development activities including membership of the ‘Carer Network’ and the production, promotion, delivery and evaluation of professional development resources,  seminars and workshops. 

Developing a culturally competent service delivery approach in mental health settings: ‘Working Effectively With Interpreters in Mental Health Settings’: A DVD training resource
Marie Piu, Tania Miletic and Harry Minas

Presenters: Marie Piu & Sylvia Collinetti

Research in Victoria has shown that people born in non-English speaking countries have lower rates of access to mental health services, higher rates of involuntary inpatient admissions, and longer lengths of stay in psychiatric inpatient units.  Clinicians also report difficulty in engaging with consumers and carers originally from non-English speaking countries due to linguistic and cultural boundaries. The Cultural diversity plan for Victoria’s specialist mental health services (2006) highlights the need to develop ‘culturally competent’ workforces and service delivery approaches, which includes the appropriate use of language services. 

This workshop will demonstrate a training resource developed by the VTPU in collaboration with consumers, carers, mental health service providers, educators and interpreters tailored for the mental health setting, to assist staff in understanding how to work effectively with professional interpreters.

This workshop will explore how the DVD can be used for in-house professional development and elf-directed learning. The audience will receive an overview of the DVD resource; an opportunity to participate in a professional development session demonstrating how to use the DVD in conjunction with written guidelines and an opportunity to engage in discussion with the developers of the DVD.

References

• Working Effectively With Interpreters in Mental Health Settings (DVD)
  Victorian Transcultural Psychiatry Unit, August 2006
• Guidelines for Working Effectively With Interpreters in Mental Health Settings Victorian Transcultural Psychiatry Unit, 2006
• Cultural diversity plan for Victoria’s specialist mental health services
  Metropolitan Health and Aged Care Services Division Victorian Department of Human Services, 2006

Presenters:

Marie Piu
Education & Service Development Consultant, VTPU

Marie Piu is a registered psychologist who has been working with the VTPU since 1997.  Her role works towards improving mental health service access and delivery for people of CALD backgrounds and includes project management, service development activities including membership of the ‘Carer Network’ and the production, promotion, delivery and evaluation of professional development resources,  seminars and workshops. 
 
Sylvia Collinetti
Education and Service Development Consultant, VTPU

Sylvia is a Member of the APS College of Clinical Psychologists. She started with the VTPU in June 2006.  Sylvia has eight years experience working in the public mental health sector, having worked as an Italian Bilingual Case Manager and Ethnic Mental Health Co-ordinator in NWMH and as a psychologist at Werribee Mercy Hospital.