Call for NFPs to Delivery Self Help Programs
11 April 2012 at 4:26 pm
The Gillard Government is calling for applications from Not for Profit organisations to deliver telephone counselling, self-help and web-based programs for people living with anxiety and depression.
The Government is making available $15.4 million for telephone and web-based counselling programs.
The Department of Health and Ageing today issued an open and competitive Invitation to Apply for Funding (ITA) to suitably qualified organisations to deliver telephone counselling, self-help and web-based programs.
Services that might be funded include psycho-social help lines, online counselling, web-based self-help, peer support resources, self-directed online treatment programs and therapist- assisted treatment services.
The ITA will close on 15 May 2012.
The Minister for Mental Health and Ageing, Mark Butler, said the nature of these services means therapy can be undertaken at a time that is convenient to the user and much of it can be done anonymously, which respects people’s privacy and helps reduce the stigma attached to seeking help.
“They can also be accessed from home, removing the need for travel, and are therefore of particular benefit to people living in rural and remote areas, or who are unable to travel to obtain face-to-face services.”
The Minister says many of the telephone and web-based counselling services funded under this round and the new virtual clinic will be accessible through the Government’s mental health portal. The portal will provide consumers with a single site to access evidence-based online mental health and crisis support services—which is due to be up and running in mid 2012.
The Government says one-in-five Australians (3.2 million) aged between 16 and 85 years experience mental illness in any given year. Only one-third of them seek help.
It says evidence suggests that for those with mild to moderate disorders, online psychological services are effective.
For more information go to: http://health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/grantDoHA2791112
