Digital transformation in Mental Health Alcohol and Other Drugs Healthcare

Consumers with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) make up 10% of the admissions and are at high risk of dying by suicide. People with BPD are often trapped in a revolving door situation to the Emergency Department (ED) and are not getting the treatment they needed due to stigma and lack of resources. The Living Well Team is a multidisciplinary team that adopted virtual care technology combined with evidence based psychological therapies specific to BPD, it is the first of its kind in Queensland. The Living Well Team (LWT) co-designed and delivered a flexible, peer-worker supported evidenced based therapeutic service to address the gap in service delivery that was placing increased pressure on emergency and acute mental health services. Since commencement the service has grown from 30 consumers during the period July – September 2021 (onboarding 10 each month) to achieve the aim of 60 consumers. In the 3 months prior to joining the LWT service, 10 of the 49 consumers (20.4%) had been admitted to acute inpatient care (20 admissions in total). Only four consumers (8.2%) were admitted to acute care following entry into the LWT (8 admissions in total). Consumers identified that engagement with the LWT was instrumental in keeping them out of hospital and improving their recovery journey.