An award winning program supporting psychologists in remote locations is on the verge of collapse.
Member for Northern Tablelands Richard Torbay has asked the government to supply a relatively modest grant of $500,000 over three years to salvage the Rural and Remote Area Psychologists Program (RRAPP) which practitioners say is vital to retaining professionals in country regions.
RRAPP offers one-to-one mentoring, tele-conferenced peer supervision, workshops, web based learning, and social media to promote group cohesion, peer networking and support.
But the key to its success has been enabling around 150 participants working in remote areas to maintain their accreditation, requiring ten hours of supervision and 30 hours of professional development each year, without incurring the prohibitive costs of travel .
At present the program is subsisting on a $5000 grant from the Country Women’s Association which is being used to keep a network blog operating.
“Every politician who represents the rural and remote areas of this state knows how hard it is to attract health professionals and once they are on the ground to retain them,” Mr Torbay said.
“This applies to psychologists, especially in single person practices, who are presented with the whole gamut of mental health issues with little access to colleagues and professional networks to assist and advise them.”
To address these difficulties directly, the pilot mentoring and support program RRAPP was developed, and funded by the NSW Psychologists Registration Board. With this first phase of $250,000 funding, the program was implemented in NSW in 2010-2011 by a team of psychologists from Hunter New England Local Health District. A follow-up grant of $150,000 enabled the project to continue for a further 18 months.
Its success was acknowledged through receiving an Excellence in Program Delivery Award at the 2012 NSW Mental Health Matters Awards, as well as inclusion in the Services for Australian Rural and Remote Allied Health Conference in Launceston and the Australian Psychological Society annual conference in Perth in September 2012.
“The Psychologists Board has been replaced by an Association which does not have the authority to fund RRAPP,’ Mr Torbay said. “I have been contacted by psychologists working in smaller communities who say the program has made it possible to for them to retain their practices and also that if they left there would be no one to replace them.
“Flying in casual professionals who do not understand the dynamics of local communities is not only more expensive but less likely to be effective.
RRAPP is one of those rare programs that has hit the mark, is cost effective, has the support of the profession and will help retain psychologists working in remote rural areas where they are greatly needed.. I have pressed the government to provide the funding to ensure it can continue.”
