Working with Expectations

Pamela Siebrecht
Consumer and Carer Participation Officer
Child and Youth Mental Health Services
Children’s Health Services
 Registrar Orientation Program
Child, Adolescent and Family Psychiatry
Training Centre
Topics Covered:
• Links between Child and Adult Psychiatry
• Assessment of Children & Adolescents
• Diagnoses & Disorders in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
• Psychological Testing
• Speech Pathology Assessment
• Inpatient Treatment

Registrars
Usually have no prior work experience in Child & Youth Mental Health
(only Adult Mental Health Services)
 Consumer & Carer Participation Officer

Consumer and Carer Representative

• Presented consumer experience at CYMHS Registrar Training (2008)

Consumer & Carer Participation program

• Introduces CYMHS Consumer & Carer Participation program at registrar
training (2009 – current)
• Support consumer and carer representatives who are presenting their
personal perspectives to the registrars (2009 – current)
 Exploring Expectations
Consumer and Carer Representatives
(generally)
• Motivated by opportunity to share insights, advice
and experiences
• Having their knowledge and advice valued, in the
hopes that it creates positive changes
• Identity; to be viewed as productive and informative
Meeting & Aligning Expectations
Consumer and Carer Representatives
• Clarity of their role and its boundaries
• Providing open channels of communication; key staff
identified and contactable
• Established participation process;
preparation > participation > debrief > evaluation
Meeting & Aligning Expectations

Consumer & Carer Participation program

• Ensure that the evaluations are meaningful; tailoring evaluations to suit
the population and the participation initiative
• Providing feedback to consumer/ carer representatives after staff
training, which may include access to staff evaluation forms
• Provide opportunities for consumer/ carer representatives to build
rapport with CYMHS staff in the workplace
Some Guiding principles
Meaningful participation by Consumer & Carer Representatives

Consumer Rep Carer Rep

(Young Person) (Parent – Carer)
Informed by Youth Participation models Adult Learning principles
Goal-oriented, but flexible structure Experiential learning, reflective, self-
directed

Considerations • Developmental factors • Mental health experiences;

their own personal experiences, their
• Consent if under 18 years child/ren, their parents-carers during
• Limited work experience childhood
• Education commitments • Family responsibilities
CYMHS Consumer & Carer Participation model
• Foundation Tier: the
Consumer and Carer
Network (est. 2007)

• Second Tier: Advisory

Groups (est. 2008)

Consumer & Carer

Representatives
 Some Key Messages to Registrars
Consumer Representatives
(young people)
• Engage in discussions about
treatment, don’t assume
people are “too young to
understand or contribute”
• The style and format of a
psychiatric consultation can be
very foreign to a young person
• Be aware that young people
might be intimidated by adults
• Clarify what symptoms the
medication is treating
• Young people may not disclose
information for fear of “getting
into trouble”
• Be aware of how parents-carer
influence a young person’s life
Carer Representatives
(Parents, Foster Carers, Extended
Family)
• Listen to parents-carers, they
know when something definitely
won’t work for their child
• Keep parents-carers informed and
take time to ensure they
understand and remember
• Be mindful that parents-carers
often have other family members
to consider too
• Engage all parents-carers if and
when possible
• Addressing school issues
effectively is important
 Evaluation Data
Some of the Registrars’ feedback
Thoughts on the session:
“Interesting, provided another perspective”
“Better than expected”
“Thought provoking”
“Was good to get a consumer/ carer perspective of expectations from CYMHS”
Informing Practice:
“Encourages empathy”
“Might ask more questions about subjective experience”
“I will be more mindful of my work”
“More sensitive to need for information”
More Information:
“About aspects I need to consider with kids, parents and other carers like teachers
and NGOs while doing case management”
“More input from the family members of consumers”
“more of the reality in context of consumer and carer”
 Consumer & Carer Participation program
Child & Youth Mental Health Services
Children’s Health Services

CYMHS-CCP@health.qld.gov.au
Ph: 3310 9444