New virtual specialist mental health service for children

A new virtual mental health service has been launched to improve access to specialist mental health care for children and young people across country Western Australia.

The virtual service, called WISH, is made up of a dedicated multidisciplinary team of specialised practitioners, including Aboriginal Mental Health Workers and Lived Experience (Peer) Workers, to provide virtual specialist advice, care, and interventions to support children, young people, and their families.

Specialised areas of service include complex trauma and attachment, Aboriginal Social and Emotional Wellbeing, infant mental health, personality disorders, eating disorders, family therapy, and neurodevelopmental disorders.

Children and young people can now be referred to the service through their local hospital or the Infant, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (ICAMHS).

WISH will help co-ordinate continuity of care between metropolitan and regional services and will expand what can be delivered locally by providing specialised care in partnership with local care delivery.

The service also strengthens the regional workforce through training, mentoring, and clinical supervision, supporting more care to be able to be delivered closer to home.

WISH is a key initiative delivering on the Infant, Child and Adolescent (ICA) System Transformation Program to expand the function and availability of virtual mental health care across Western Australia and increasing the capability of the ICA mental health workforce.

WISH is a specialist referral service. Children and young people in regional WA experiencing a mental health emergency should call Triple 0 or Crisis Connect on 1800 048 636.