Peggy Ronnau and Brendan O'Connor, The Living Options Service, Preston, Victoria (Victoria) [paper authored by Elizabeth Fraser]
The Living Options Service is an exciting and innovative service that provides an efficient and effective electronic information network system to ensure co-ordinated access to existing psychiatric housing and support services in the Northern region of Melbourne. The project is managed by Neami, a community based non-profit psychiatric disability support service and over seen by a reference group made up of all participating services. The service was officially launched by the Victorian Minister for Housing Bronwyn Pike and received a commendation for innovation and development from the Victorian Public Health Service 2001 Awards.
This two year collaborative project attempts to address some of the long standing issues that exist within the psychiatric housing and support referral system such as lack of co-ordinated information on available services, inappropriate referrals, duplication of client assessment and lengthy waiting lists.
The Living Options Service is an innovation in the area of psychiatric mental health service partnerships. It has created an integrated and centralised system using the latest in information technology to support its aim to create easier access to the housing and support service system.
The use of a networked system allows services to share data in real time (with consumers consent) in order to reduce the duplication in the collection of minimum data. Data is entered at the Living Options central location and can be transferred to any Living Options service within seconds. Data can be updated at any point within the system and services only have access to data that pertains to their service. Data is encrypted and password protected. Protocols and procedures on data collection and transfer are in place.
The regional database and intranet ensures greater networking between existing psychiatric housing services, community mental health services and other community agencies. It also assists in identifying housing stock needs as well as accommodation and support options which are lacking and will further enable area mental health services to monitor the housing and support needs of clients in the region and identify relevant service gaps.
This presentation will outline the development of the Living Options. Issues for discussion will include the aims and purpose of the service, the process involved in the development of the referral system, collaborative practise among clinical and disability support services, and the challenges in creating an electronically networked information system.