Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing Healthcare Planning and Evaluation Pty Ltd. Country Resources Evaluation of Policy, Law, Strategies, Plans, and Services Australia 13 September 2010 Report

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Description

The Support for Day to Day Living in the Community: A Structured Activity Program measure was designed to increase access to recovery oriented services for people experiencing a severe and persistent mental illness, isolation and limited prospects of joining the labour force.

The three components of the program were:
1) Drop In places or low level support offered a safe place for those recovering from a mental illness to visit, access support and be referred to a range of other social and community services.
2) Medium Level Support was designed to support participants in developing new skills or re-learning old ones, and accomplishing goals they established to improve their functioning in the community.
3) Flexible/discretionary funding was allocated to support clients’ participation in community activities, education and other activities consistent with achieving their rehabilitation goals.

Evaluation results
D2DL appeared to have achieved its objectives. Activity data extrapolated from progress reports for the 25 sites visited indicated that over 7,000 places had been created in each year covered by the evaluation data set. Discussions with service providers and consumers, along with a review of progress reports, indicated that the intended target group had been reached.

The use of discretionary funding facilitated the engagement of mainstream organisations and services to provide support for D2DL clients. This resulted in communities becoming more receptive of people with a severe and persistent mental illness.

The development of structured assessment, planning and review processes within D2DL services had progressed, although it appeared that the preoccupation with hours of activity had reduced the emphasis on providing a mix of available services tailored to the goals and aspirations of individual consumers. However, consumers appeared adept at deciding the components of the program they used.

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