Notes on Adelaide podcast: A traumatised system
How can a struggling public hospital system cope with the mental health crisis? During Mental Health Awareness Month, advocates argue there are better ways to end the crisis than pumping more money into hospitals.
One of the themes of state politics this year has been a relentless focus on jammed hospital emergency departments, with ambulances ramped outside.
The new Labor Government promised to fix the ramping crisis. It hasn’t done that – if anything, things are now worse.
What this political imperative means is that hospitals remain under the political spotlight and the focus of government health spending.
But what about the mental health crisis that has been building for years? This month is Mental Health Awareness Month and advocates are using the occasion to argue for a shift in investment beyond hospitals – a ‘traumatised system’ that is struggling.
The Mental Health Coalition, which represents non-government organisations in the field, says they want to see more investment in community-based mental health support.
Geoff Harris, the executive director of the coalition in South Australia, joins the podcast this week.
LINKS
InDaily’s mental health coverage, including Geoff Harris’s recent opinion piece
More information about psychosocial support
Watch the Mental Health Coalition’s advertising campaign, Tale of Two Traumas, below.
About Notes on Adelaide
Notes on Adelaide is a weekly current affairs podcast driven by the independent journalism of InDaily, CityMag and SALIFE, and produced by Solstice Podcasting.
New episodes are uploaded weekly. You can find the podcast on InDaily or on your favourite podcast app including Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
Listen to our previous episodes here.
If this episode has raised issues for you, call LifeLine on 13 11 14. Beyond Blue and headspace are other national organisations that offer comprehensive mental health support.
