By Josh Jennings
HEALTH
Julie Dempsey, a consultant for mental-health consumers, says the types of conversations she has with consumers can centre around medication. She might remind them of the consequences of withdrawing from medication or suggest alternative solutions that won't extend the time they spend in recovery.
Mental-health consumer consultant Julie Dempsey was appointed to the Victorian 10 Year Mental Health Plan Expert Taskforce this year.
The goal is to give patients their own voice, says Dempsey.
"Part of their treatment usually is they need to be on the medication to stabilise their illness but that doesn't mean you can't have a discussion about what medication they're on," she says. "Part of recovery is offering choice and making patients aware of their options."
Dempsey is a senior consumer consultant at Forensicare, provider of adult mental-health services for people in Victoria's criminal justice system. She is based at Thomas Embling Hospital, a 116-bed secure forensic mental-health hospital in Fairfield.
Dempsey prefers the word "consumer" to "patient" to describe those she advocates for because the word helps signify they have the same rights as consumers of any other services.
One of the major challenges of her job, she adds, is embedding consumer perspectives and principles of recovery across all levels of Forensicare.
"It's about challenging that institutionalised view that consumers need help and we're the best ones to provide it and we know what's best for them, and not giving consumers the opportunity to have their own self-determination." The perspective Dempsey brings to her role is partly informed by her personal experience.
As somebody with schizophrenia who was consumed by psychosis for many decades, she harbours the empathy to understand mental-health services from both sides.
This insight was acknowledged in 2014, when she was awarded the Victorian Public Healthcare Award for outstanding achievement by an individual or team in mental healthcare.
This year, Dempsey was also appointed to the Victorian 10 Year Mental Health Plan Expert Taskforce.
It's all had an impact on how she conceives of herself contributing to mental health, she says.
"I wasn't living, I was just surviving. Having this job has helped me move out of that and into a life where I can share reality with other people ... Getting this award has been confirmation that I'm not just a psychiatric patient. My life is more than that."
Dempsey intends to spend the next year focusing on developing a "peer workforce" at Forensicare.
In mental health, the peer workforce is an emerging practice that refers to employees who identify as being, or having been, mental-health consumers or carers.
"That's something I've been quite involved in promoting over the years and it looks like it's starting to happen now across the services.
"I'm encouraging it to take hold here at Forensicare."