Sunshine Coast, QLD – One of the many special programs offered by Wishlist is youth advisory, which helps to support and empower Sunshine Coast young adults.
Through this program, they will help to support a circle-of-care for young mental health patients.
With the construction of Wishlist Centre, a $14 million transitionary care accommodation facility, they will be able to offer even more comprehensive services and care to adolescents.
Wishlist has committed to directing $436,000 towards a Parental Resilience Group and Youth
Advisory Group – to be activated in the Australian-first Wishlist Centre opposite Sunshine Coast
University Hospital – over the next two years.
Wishlist CEO Lisa Rowe explained the funding would help Sunshine Coast Hospital and Health Service (SCHHS) staff enhance care informed by lived experience, for the increasing number of youth with complex mental health issues that have escalated during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“200 young people are referred a month to our local Mental Health Department and this number is not slowing down,” Ms Rowe said.
SCHHS Service Development and Research Coordinator Bramwell Morton, an experienced Clinician and Registered Nurse, will work with Project Support Officer Sarah Hickey and a group of adolescents who have experienced Child Youth and Mental Health Services – and provide a platform to amplify their voice.
“These groups have the power to change the lives of adolescents and their families like we’ve never seen before in the Mental Health service environment on the Sunshine Coast,” Mr Morton said.
“We really want to put it back on the adolescent group members and say we want to look through your eyes and create a better system for a legacy into the future.”
Ms Rowe said the groups will fit in perfectly to the comfortable and supportive environment that
Wishlist Centre will be for patients and families – when it opens mid-year.
“For every young person who walks through the doors of their local public hospital, there is a family.
“Each person in that family is impacted by their family member’s health journey in a unique way, and that cannot be underestimated.
“We believe through these emerging groups, families will ideally receive what they believe is missing in their health journey,” she said.
Mr Morton said his team would soon be seeking to recruit six consumer and carer positions who will establish the Youth Advisory Group.
The Parental Resilience groups will be available to parents who want to be supported with their own recovery journey while their child is recovering.
“We are just so excited about this opportunity and want to say a huge thank you to Wishlist for making this vision become a reality,” he said.
With Wishlist Centre set to open its doors later this year, the team is working around the clock to improve their services and make sure that they can help as many struggling adolescents in the community as possible.
With the help of Regular Givers, Wishlist can continue to improve Wishlist Centre and provide extra services to the Sunshine Coast health centre.
To find out more info visit wishlist.org.au
About Wishlist:
Wishlist is a not-for-profit organisation based on the Sunshine Coast, QLD. Wishlist’s aim is to direct $1 million to the needs of the local health service each year, through quarterly grants for equipment, support services, research and staff education. Since 1998, Wishlist has raised and directed more than $19 million into health projects and resources for the community. Some of the things they fund include transitionary accommodation for patients and families, research projects, medical equipment, staff scholarships and support services such as Clown Doctors, Delta Therapy Dogs, Yoga Therapy and Music Therapy.
Website: https://www.wishlistfundraising.org.au/event/donate-a-brick/home
Media Contact
Company Name: Wishlist
Contact Person: Media Relations
Email: Send Email
Phone: +61 7 5202 1777
City: Sunshine Coast
State: QLD
Country: Australia
Website: https://wishlist.org.au/
