Mental Illness in Nowra District: Goals and Prevention
MIND the GaP is an integrated whole-of-community mental health and wellbeing facility located at UOW’s Shoalhaven Campus in Mundamia (West Nowra). We aim to improve the mental health and wellbeing of residents within the Shoalhaven region. We will do this by:
- providing patient-centred, holistic, and preventative frontline services
- developing innovative regional strategies in mental health and wellbeing
- informing best practice in other parts of rural and regional Australia
- provide quality, clinical training placements for future Allied Health and medical practitioners
- collaboration with healthcare professionals, researchers and frontline support services
MIND the GaP facilitates a whole-of-community response to addressing the complex societal challenges of mental health and wellbeing in the Shoalhaven region. Statistically, the Shoalhaven experiences an elevated burden of mental health, with rates of suicide and mental health conditions higher than state and national averages.
Within this context, MIND the GaP has three core focus areas for clinical application and training, and translational research:
- improving the prevention, early recognition, and treatment of mental health issues, including suicide prevention
- trauma prevention, response, and recovery
- building community resilience
