Open Arms trialled a new model of community-coordinated care program that enhanced the service experience of military, veteran, and family clients in the Townsville region.  The pilot was intended to improve the care for clients with complex issues, or who were thought to be at risk of suicide.

The Care Coordination team included a skilled Open Arms clinician and a lived experience peer, working together to support a more comprehensive and integrated community care program for clients.  The pilot was run over two years, in four phases.  Each phase provided a range of benefits that were identified and later adjusted where required.

Gripfast was engaged by the Australian Government Department of Veterans’ Affairs to conduct an independent, rapid and robust review of the program, measured against seven key outcomes.  The outcomes related to the strategic, organisational and business plans of Open Arms for the further effective integration of the program nationally.

This included the enhancement of recovery-oriented services delivered in accordance with the National Mental Health Standards, and learnings and/or recommendations for the future of the program.

Gripfast used a signature strategic evaluation framework (Formative, Process, Outcome and Impact) to assess the Peer Support Program in an immersive, highly integrated fashion.

Adhering to and meeting exact project timeframes, the team delivered a robust, reliable response to the key outcome questions raised by the Department and included 27 actionable recommendations.   The findings of the report were subsequently presented to the National Advisory Committee (NAC), with the program receiving full endorsement and rolled out nationally.