Community teams central to mental health care

By positioning community mental health teams at the centre of care in the community and strengthening the resources of these teams, there is a greater potential to intervene earlier and prevent a high incidence of mental health issues among the older population.

There will always be a role for inpatient acute and non-acute OPMHS bedded services as a highly specialised resource in a ‘stepped system’ of care, where people can step up and down to the most appropriate level of care.