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In response to the difficulties posed by COVID-19, the ACT Government announced its COVID-19 Mental Health support package which included funding for the implementation of a pilot Safe Haven service. A co-design approach was utilised by ACT Health for the development of the ACT Safe Haven model. Guided by a consultant with experience of co-design and the development of similar spaces, two design teams were established. This process brought a diverse range of stakeholders with lived and learnt experience of distress together. It allowed multiple perspectives and opened discussions that informed the design elements and principles important to creating environments that would change people’s experience of seeking help when in distress.
CHN and ACT Health partnered and collaborated on the funding and commissioning of the ACT Safe Haven service which was opened in Belconnen in November 2021. Provided by Stride Mental Health, Safe Haven Belconnen is a warm and welcoming space for people experiencing suicidal thoughts and feelings or emotional distress to access support when they need it in a calm and caring environment. Safe Haven Belconnen is staffed entirely by peer support workers (people with a lived experience of mental health issues). Since opening in November 2021, Safe Haven Belconnen has seen 87 guests visit (with a total of 283 visits). Safe Haven provides a guest-led experience, meaning that each guest is supported to choose supports and follow up based on their own preferences and recovery needs. 80% of guests reported a distress reduction after visiting Safe Haven. Service user feedback has been positive, with highlights including the accessible hours, kind staff and the nice atmosphere of the space.
Testimonials
Safe Haven guests said the best things about Safe Haven were:
“Being able to talk to peers knowing they would understand. Not having to prove my distress to anyone.”
“the space is very warm and inviting. I felt very welcome and free to share about my life”
“Talking to someone who understood my position and being supported to identify my Mental Health needs & help to create a plan to access supports… Most of all, the encouragement that with careful consideration I can receive support without further distress”
Client story
While exiting an appointment from the adjacent Belconnen Health Centre, Omar* (not their real name) saw the sign for Safe Haven Belconnen and decided to access the service. Omar had recently been struggling with his mental health and finding it hard to adjust to life as a father. He spoke to one peer support worker about his lifelong struggle with bipolar disorder and how fatherhood had presented a new set of challenges for him. He worried about the impact his mental health could have on his children, particularly the new baby he and his wife were expecting.
Omar came in one day feeling very unwell, tearing up and finding it hard to speak. He seemed reluctant to say too much about how he was feeling, but his demeanour changed when two of the available peer support workers disclosed that they also have the diagnosis of bipolar disorder. Omar asked these peer support workers many questions about how they cope and what strategies they use to treat and manage their symptoms, and together the three of them created a list of strategies and advice for Omar to take home and implement for himself. He told the peer support workers he hadn’t met anyone else who had bipolar disorder and “lived a normal life”. He opened up more about how he had been struggling and told the peer support workers that luckily his psychiatrist appointment had been moved to an earlier date so he would be getting more support soon. He thanked the peer support workers for their support and told them how helpful it was to hear the experiences of people who successfully manage bipolar disorder.
