Capacity Building 'Stories from the Real World'

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In 2001 the national COPMI initiative to promote better outcomes for children of parents with a mental illness was announced, with the following objectives:

• Development and uptake of good practice principles and guidelines for services and people working with children of parents with a mental illness around Australia
• Availability to children of parents with a mental illness and their families, and to people working with them of appropriate resource materials in line with the good practice principles and guidelines
• Provision of high quality information to the Commonwealth Department of Health and Ageing to enhance future policy development regarding children of parents with a mental illness and their families.

In 2004, Phase 2 of the project commenced, with a primary goal of increasing awareness and uptake of the Principles and Actions for Services and People Working with Children of Parents with a Mental Illness (AICAFMHA 2004).

The 'Stories from the Real World' activity aims to share knowledge and experience from services and individuals who are working towards building the capacity of relevant organisations and workforces to respond to the needs of children of parents with a mental illness and their families. This capacity building is occurring in a number of ways including:

• Workforce Development (e.g. in-house training, course development, professional supervision systems)
• Resource Allocation (e.g. establishment of 'copmi' positions, availability of information, 'family friendly' spaces)
• Organisational Development (e.g. policies and plans, information systems)

People and organisations are invited to 'tell their capacity building story' within a specified brief template* suitable for placement on the AICAFMHA website, but contact details may be provided by the storyteller to assist those who wish to learn more from the story teller's experience. It is helpful to readers if the author can identify whether or not their story is a work in progress. In addition, authors are reminded to give due acknowledgement and respect to others' intellectual property that may appear in their story.

You can view the index of other people's stories before writing your own!

Tell Your Story!

Further information about specific programs (e.g. camps, peer support groups, parent support groups) and resources (e.g. books, pamphlets, videos) for use with children and family members can be found on this website.

REFERENCES

AICAFMHA. Principles and Actions for Services and People Working With Children of Parents With a Mental Illness. Stepney, SA: Australian Infant Child Adolescent and Family Mental Health Association Ltd, 2004.