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Partners in Recovery: coordinated support and flexible funding for people with severe and persistent mental illness with complex needs (PIR initiative)

The PIR initiative is a new and innovative program that aims to facilitate better coordination of and more streamlined access to the clinical and other services and supports needed by people in the target group who require a response from multiple agencies.

What is PIR
Objectives of PIR
Who benefits
Who is involved
Program guidelines
Question and answer booklet
More information
Information sessions

Invitation to apply for funding to become a PIR organisation (now closed)
Capacity building project

What is PIR

PIR aims to better support people with severe and persistent mental illness with complex needs and their carers and families, by getting multiple sectors, services and supports they may come into contact with (and could benefit from) to work in a more collaborative, coordinated, and integrated way.

Through system collaboration, PIR will promote collective ownership and encourage innovative solutions to ensure effective and timely access to the services and supports required by people with severe and persistent mental illness with complex needs to sustain optimal health and wellbeing.

Objectives of PIR

The ultimate objective of PIR is to improve the system response to, and outcomes for, people with severe and persistent mental illness who have complex needs by:

• facilitating better coordination of clinical and other supports and services to deliver 'wrap around' care individually tailored to the person's needs
• strengthening partnerships and building better links between various clinical and community support organisations responsible for delivering services to the PIR target group
• improving referral pathways that facilitate access to the range of services and supports needed by the PIR target group and
• promoting a community based recovery model to underpin all clinical and community support services delivered to people experiencing severe and persistent mental illness with complex needs.Top of page

Who benefits

PIR will focus on 24,000 people who have a severe and persistent mental illness with complex support needs that require a response from multiple agencies. These individuals have persistent symptoms, significant functional impairment and psychosocial disability, and may have become disconnected from social or family support networks. This can lead to extensive reliance on multiple health and community services for assistance to maintain their lives within community based settings and outside of institutional care.

They may have comorbid substance use or physical health issues or both, are likely to experience difficulties maintaining stable accommodation, and experience difficulty in completing basic activities of daily living¹. These individuals are reported to often fall through the system gaps and require more intensive support to meet the complexity of their needs.

Who is involved

Suitably placed and experienced non-government organisations will be engaged as PIR organisations in Medicare Local geographic regions to implement PIR in a way that complements existing support and service systems and any existing care coordination efforts already being undertaken.

There are a number of sectors central to the success of this initiative including primary care (health and mental health), state/ territory specialist mental health system, the mental health and broader NGO sector, alcohol and other drug services, income support services, as well as education, employment and housing supports. Top of page

Program guidelines

The PIR grant program guidelines provide essential information about the purpose of PIR funding, who can apply to become a PIR organisation, considerations and requirements when applying for funding, and how applications will be assessed.

These guidelines informed the invitation to apply (ITA) process which was issued on 15 October 2012 to engage PIR organisations in each of the 61 Medicare Local geographic regions.

Question and answer booklet, version 3 (addendum to ITA)

The PIR question and answer booklet provides official responses to all relevant queries received by the department on PIR and its implementation. It acts as an addendum to the invitation to apply (ITA) for funding to engage PIR oganisations and will be updated with new questions as appropriate. All parties who have downloaded the ITA will be notified via email when a new version of the question and answer booklet is uploaded to this website.

More information

As a response to stakeholder inquiries about how service providers from different sectors could be encouraged and engaged to actively participate in the PIR initiative, a literature review on intersectoral linkages has been commissioned by the department.

Two fictional case studies, one from a consumer perspective and the other from a systems perspective, have been developed to illustrate how PIR may work in practice.

A fact sheet and more detailed information paper provide an overview of the PIR operational model including objectives, principles, and the target group for PIR.

The video of stakeholder interviews provides further detail on PIR and includes interviews with departmental staff and PIR Expert Reference Group members.

A video of the PIR information session held in Sydney on 27 August 2012 provides an opportunity to those unable to attend a session to gain an understanding of the content and format of the sessions, as well as a sense of how they were conducted.

Mental health matters: an update on reform from the Minister for Mental Health, April 2012

Schizophrenia Awareness Week, 14 May 2012 - media release Top of page

PIR information sessions

Information sessions conducted in each state and territory provided a detailed overview of the PIR grant program guidelines. The sessions also highlighted the responsibilities of successful PIR organisations and provided an indicative timeline for the invitation to apply process.

PIR information session video
Powerpoint presentation delivered at information sessions

Each information session allowed sufficient time for questions and answers involving a panel of experts. Questions from the information sessions informed the development of the question and answer booklet.

Contact us

Queries can be directed by email to Partners in Recovery at partnersinrecovery@health.gov.au.

Footnotes

¹ The target group for PIR is intended to reflect the issues and concepts identified in the Position statement by the National Mental Health Consumer and Carer Forum (NMHCCF) on Psychosocial Disability Associated with Mental Health Conditions.