New mental health services for Alice Springs
People in the Alice Springs region will soon have access to free, and culturally appropriate mental health and wellbeing support in their own community.
Together, the Australian Government and Northern Territory Government announced a $11.5 million to establish and operate new adult and kids Head to Health services.
The facilities are are expected to open in 2024.
The Head to Health services in Alice Springs will be safe and welcoming places for all people, with a strong focus on being culturally safe and responsive to meet the needs of First Nations people.
Head to Health services provide compassionate, flexible and high-quality mental health and wellbeing support from multidisciplinary care teams. People can be seen without an appointment, to get the services they need from a range of professionals which may include First Nations health workers, psychologists, paediatricians, nurses, social workers and peer support workers.
The new Head to Health service for adults will provide short to medium-term care for people with moderate to severe levels of mental illness. This new service will take a holistic approach to supporting mental health and wellbeing, and provide immediate support and follow up for people who are in crisis or distress.
The new Head to Health Kids service will deliver culturally appropriate specialist therapeutic services for children ages 0 to 12 years, strengthening outcomes for children’s mental health and wellbeing and their families throughout the Central Australia region.
Both of these Head to Health services will be co-designed in close partnership with the Central Australian Aboriginal Congress and First Nations representatives, health professionals and service providers, as well as local communities, including people with lived and living experience of mental ill-health and families experiencing childhood difficulties.
