Sally and Margaret

Family and services have rallied around Sally, from supporting her to navigate the court system, to making informed choices about the medication she takes, to exploring new ways of managing her finances and staying connected to the community. All of this has been achieved while making sure her family get the supports they need too.

Sally is 34 and has been living with schizophrenia since her early 20s. She lives in public housing. Her mother Margaret keeps in close touch with Sally and provides her with a range of supports, including financial assistance from time to time.  Sally has a clinical manager at City Mental Health.

Margaret recently became concerned about Sally. Her unit was becoming increasingly dirty and messy. Sally didn't appear to be taking care of her personal hygiene. She also wasn't eating well and said that she had no money for food. Margaret found out that Sally was spending most of her food budget on cigarettes. Sally complained of not being able to sleep at night because the voices in her head were becoming louder. She stated that the only solution was to end it all.

Margaret became quite concerned about Sally and phoned her clinical manager. Margaret was recognised by the Community Mental Health team as her carer as on a previous occasion Sally had signed a consent form that gave her clinical team the right to share information with her mother.

The clinical manager agreed to follow up with Sally. It was discovered that Sally had not been taking her medication regularly. She believed the medication was making her sick and refused to take it. The clinical manager made an application for a Psychiatric Treatment Order with the ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal (ACAT), and a date for a hearing was set.  Sally was offered advocacy services through ACAT. Her advocate, from ACT Disability, Aged and Carers Advocacy Service (ADACAS), told ACAT that the medication was making her sick. ACAT heard both arguments and decided that medication was necessary to keep Sally safe. The Order was made and her treating team agreed to trial a new medication. 

After a six-week period, it appeared that the new medication was more effective and didn't create the side-effects Sally had been complaining about. She was also able to reduce her nicotine habit.

The clinical manager linked her into a recovery support program with Mental Health Foundation ACT. The Personal Helpers and Mentors program worker put in place some supports to strengthen Sally's independent living skills. These supports included addressing the squalor in Sally's unit and developing activities of daily living skills. They also included some financial counselling and budget management supports. Sally and her recovery worker agreed that it would be helpful for her to build social connections, and with some community transport assistance she has started to attend the Rainbow, a psychosocial rehabilitation program.

Margaret became interested in meeting other mental health carers and joined a support group through Carers ACT. Her contact with other carers helped Margaret learn about other community programs. She subsequently participated in CIT Skills for Carers courses and, from time to time, attends forums through the Mental Health Carers Voice program.