International Mental Health

Since graduating in the Master of International Mental Health and the International Mental Health Leadership Program at CIMH in August 2004, Australian mental health nurse Len Kanowski has been involved in a number of exciting national and international initiatives.

The Mental Health First Aid Program

Shortly after graduation Len worked at the Australian National University Centre for Mental Health Research (CMHR) with Professor Tony Jorm and Betty Kitchener, founders of the internationally recognised Mental Health First Aid Training and Research Program.

Whilst at the CMHR Len worked with Australian-based Vietnamese, Croatian and Italian communities and mental health professionals to adapt the Mental Health First Aid course to better meet the cultural needs of the three communities.

Following employment at the CMHR Len relocated to Melbourne for four years to take up the position of Deputy Director of the National Mental Health First Aid Training and Research Program when the program relocated from the CMHR to the Orygen Research Centre at the University of Melbourne.

Len Kanowski (left) and fellow iMHLP graduate Dr Benjaporn Panyayong (right) in Thailand during a training session

During his time at Orygen Len helped to establish the Mental Health First Aid Program in Singapore, Thailand and a large Maori Health District in Auckland, New Zealand. He also established and managed the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Mental Health First Aid Program for Indigenous Australians as well as continuing his mental health literacy work with members of the Vietnamese and African communities in Melbourne.

Len, Benjaporn and elephant handler in Thailand

Len returned to work with New South Wales Health in 2009 in order to be closer to his family. His current position is Area Coordinator, Aboriginal Mental Health and Drug and Alcohol Services for some of the most remotely located Indigenous communities in New South Wales, Australia.

Len is a keen ambassador for the Mental Health First Aid Program, a strong advocate for the International Mental Health Leadership Program and has a professional and personal interest in Indigenous mental health and wellbeing.

Innovative drug and alcohol services for Indigenous communities in rural and remote Australia

For the past two years Len Kanowski been working, as part of the New South Wales Greater Western Area Health Service, with Indigenous communities and a non-government drug and alcohol service provider (Lyndon Community) to develop an exciting new model of drug and alcohol treatment and care for Aboriginal communities in  rural and remote New South Wales, Australia. The service covers an area of 440,000 square kilometres and some of the most remote and disadvantaged communities in the region.

Len Kanowski on a drug & outreach visit to clinics in Broken Hill and Bourke, New South Wales, Australia.

The program, known as the Murdi Paaki Drug & Alcohol Network (MPDAN), is funded by the Australian Federal Government’s Office for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health. The Network was established to provide drug and alcohol outreach services to the many remote communities under a ‘hub and spoke’ model of service delivery. The Network is supported by staffing and ‘in-kind’ support from the partner organisations involved.

Recruitment and retention of specialist drug & alcohol workers in the most remote areas of the State is problematic. The lack of available specialist staff in the remote areas led to the establishment of a central clinical hub in one of the larger centres where drug and alcohol staff  prefer to live.

In addition to providing regular outreach services via air and road transport, the MPDAN model provides video-health and tele-health support from the central hub. The model also relies on supporting and up skilling primary health care providers, including Indigenous health care providers in the rural and remote sites, to provide drug and alcohol assessments and brief interventions while receiving support from the clinical hub.

Working in rural and remote Australia involves a lot of flying in small aircraft.

Another feature of the program is the establishment of an Aboriginal Drug and Alcohol Traineeship Program to support the Network. The trainees are provided with ‘on the job’ learning experiences and are supported to attend University during their training.

The Network and the services it delivers will be extensively evaluated using action research methods as the program continues to develop. The model provides a good framework upon which to develop drug and alcohol services in other rural and remote regions internationally.

Len can be contacted via  email  Len.Kanowski@gwahs.health.nsw.gov.au

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