Older Adult Mental Health Services
NMHS Mental Health, Public Health and Dental Services (MHPHDS) Older Adult Mental Health Service (OAMHS) is:
- Lower West Older Adult Mental Health Service
- Osborne Park Older Adult Mental Health Service
- Wanneroo Older Adult Community Mental Health Service
The Older Adult Mental Health Service is responsible for the delivery of specialist mental health services to older people living in the north metropolitan region of Perth. The Service provides inpatient, Hospital in The Home (HiTH), therapy and community services from locations in Wanneroo, Osborne Park and Shenton Park. A Geriatric Psychiatry Consultation Liaison Team also provides assessment and treatment planning to both Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital and Osborne Park Hospital.
Inpatient services are located at Osborne Lodge (G Block, Osborne Park Hospital) and Selby Lodge (c/o Lower West OAMHS, Shenton Park). These are 24-hour services and can be contacted by the numbers in the 'Referrals and service locality guide' below.
Services operate within a program management model with Heads of Clinical Service, Coordinator of Nursing, Service Manager and Service Coordinators as the leadership team, which report to the Co-Directors for Mental Health Specialties. Each Service is represented on one of two Advisory Committees which report to Mental Health Specialties management committees. The leadership group can be contacted during business hours through (08) 9382 0800.
Service teams are multidisciplinary with consultant psychiatry, medical, nursing, occupational therapy, rehabilitation, clinical psychology, social work, physiotherapy, speech pathology, podiatry and dietetic services.
Underpinning the Model of Care is the practice of person-centred care and a focus on recovery in partnership with patients, consumers and their family and carers.
Older Adult Mental Health Services
The Older Adult Mental Health Service (OAMHS) is integrated and provides:
- Information and Triage
- Case management
- Therapy services which includes assessment, rehabilitation, maintenance and treatment
- Inpatient units with most beds authorised under the Mental Health Act 2014
- Physiotherapy assessment and rehabilitation plans
- Carer liaison and education
- Teaching and training in Older Adult Mental Health for staff and tertiary students
- Psychiatric and medical diagnosis and assessment
- Wide range of general and mental health nursing assessment, monitoring treatment and discharge planning functions across inpatient, community and day therapy settings
- Social work liaison - support to family and carers with advocacy and Guardianship Board liaison; access to community agencies and residential placement and associated requirements
- Clinical and neuro-cognitive assessments, interventions and behavioural management planning
- Occupational therapy functional assessment and rehabilitation planning
- Assessment and treatment of muscular-skeletal, cardio-respiratory and neurological problems, in collaboration with relevant medical specialists with participation in fitness, mobility and falls risk assessment.
Services interface with many primary care agencies assisting in shared care, case conferencing and treatment planning. Where possible, consumers and carers are involved in treatment planning and are encouraged to access carer support services and have representative positions on committees.
The OAMHS has linkages with the:
- Guardianship and Administrative Tribunal
- Office of the Chief Psychiatrist
- Mental Health Tribunal
- Mental Health Advocacy Service
- Non-government and community-managed organisations
- General psychiatry services
- Geriatric medicine - complex referrals
- Private sector - hostels and nursing homes and some private hospitals
- Tertiary education - undergraduate and postgraduate training and teaching
- Professional Interest Groups - Faculty of Old Age Psychiatry RANZCP and Clinical Psychology of Old Age interest group
- Rural catchment areas: Osborne Park - Midwest; Selby Midwest; Clinical Research
Referrals
Older Adult Mental Health Service (OAMHS) cares for older adults suffering from:
- Psychiatric disorder/s complicated by physical conditions of aging such as physical frailty, degenerative illness or dementia
- Dementia complicated by severe behavioural disturbance
- Newly arising psychiatric conditions in persons 65 years and older.
Services may, when clinically appropriate, see persons younger than 65 years suffering from conditions usually associated with old age.
The provision of service is geared towards semi-urgent and elective referrals from secondary and tertiary sources including:
- General practitioners
- General hospitals and geriatric medicine units
- General psychiatry services.
To discuss whether a person would benefit from attending our service or whether they meet our referral criteria, please contact the Triage / Duty Officer in your catchment area between 8.30am and 4.30pm weekdays.
The OAMHS is not resourced for emergency/after-hours assessments or after-hours inpatient admissions. Should the need arise, after hours emergencies should be directed to the Mental Health Emergency Response Line (MHERL) by phoning 1300 555 788 (local call).
