Hope is crucial to recovery of mental illness, and peer-to-peer shared experiences are beneficial in supporting recovery. However, there is a lack of peer led, recovery focused resources for older people and the wider community to access. A video was developed in collaboration with three Gold Coast Mental Health consumers who shared their experiences of living with mental illness. Their hope is to shift the misconceptions related to mental illness, as well as provide hope to others. The variety of formats developed included a 3 minute video, a 10 minute video and access through different social media to the general public.
Older People Do Recover
Initiative Type
Service Improvement
Status
Close
Added
18 August 2017
Last updated
15 September 2023
Summary
Key dates
Jun 2016
Aug 2017
Implementation sites
Robina Hospital
Aim
To develop a resource to facilitate the sharing of older peoples experiences of living with mental illness.
Benefits
- Breaks down the stigma related to mental illness through the sharing of stories.
- Empowers people to seek help.
Background
Mental health and emotional wellbeing are as important in older age as at any other time of life. Mental illness in older people can be misunderstood as an inherent and inevitable aspect of ageing, which is not the case. For older people ageing with a mental illness and those experiencing the first onset of mental illness in old age, co-occurring chronic physical health problems and disease will become more prevalent.
