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Last September, Tilly Read, our Clinical Practice Lead, Baywide Community Mental Health Team embarked on a journey to the land down under to support the training rollout of Peer-supported Open Dialogue.

A chance to share her expertise and learn from colleagues on the other side of the world, the sabbatical saw Tilly spend 10 weeks working with the Open Dialogue Centre, immersed in the approach which is being rolled out across regional communities including in mental health organisations, youth services and schools.

Peer-supported Open Dialogue (POD) is a different way of supporting people in distress. The approach places the person at the centre of their care and their network of support, whether that's family, friends or other professionals involved in their care. 

Our Baywide Community Team is leading the way in the UK in implementing Peer-supported Open Dialogue, and Devon Partnership NHS Trust is one of only five trusts to take part in the national ODDESSI trial.

"The way open dialogue has been adopted over there is so forward-thinking and people are really wanting to invest in the approach because they can see the long-term benefits."

Despite noting shared challenges such as staff burnout and long waiting lists, Tilly noticed key differences between services here and in Australia. She described how many of the services she worked alongside operate on a smaller scale, enabling clearer communication and stronger alignment from senior leaders through to frontline teams.

She also saw the reality of underfunding in some areas and the divide between First Nations and non Indigenous communities. However, she was inspired by the Open Dialogue Centre's investment in the Rumbalara Aboriginal Co operative, where partnership working with a particular focus on embedding peer support worker roles to support those in youth services is making a difference. 

What impressed her the most was the ODC's commitment to multi-year investment. In Shepparton for example, a small and remote town in Victoria, between 30 and 60 people across child and adolescent mental health services, youth services, teachers and those with lived experience are being trained each year. The goal is that within five years, every service involved with supporting people with mental health needs will have someone able to facilitate or co-facilitate meetings leading toward a whole community approach to care.  

Tilly said: "The whole systems approach is making a clear difference particularly in schools where they've seen a reduction in non-attendance and closer collaborative relationships between services involved.

"I was there to share our learning, but I feel like there's a lot we can learn from the approach being taken in Australia and what a wonderful chance for our organisation to be a part of international conversations, learning and collaboration."

The sabbatical has left Tilly energised and confident in the work we're doing in our organisation to rollout the approach.

"Seeing long term cultural change, improved staff retention and better family care made me really believe in what's possible," she adds.

"I feel privileged to be part of the Baywide team and more committed than ever to improving the service we provide."