ARAFMI ( STATEWIDE Providing
Support for Carers, Relatives & Friends of people with Mental Health
Difficulties
Phone
Help-Line: (03) 62 28 7448 All hours (24-7) Fax: (03) 6228 7765, Launceston: Phone: (03) 6331 4486
Mindline No
22
List of Southern Tasmanian organisations
Multilingual Leaflets for Carers
Our Mission
To improve the
quality of life for families, carers and friends of those living with mental
illness
Who we are:
We are a group
of people who have a close family member or friend with a mental illness, who
work together as volunteers to support others in a similar situation. This shared experience and understanding
assists us to achieve our mission.
What we do:
We achieve our
mission through:
-
Supporting Families
-
Building skills through information
-
Offering informal referral
- Promoting
Community awareness and advocacy
You are
Not alone
Support meetings:
We provide regular meetings for family and friends. Sometimes we have guest
speakers and we always have time for a discussion over a cuppa. We provide
support, information and skills. Everyone is welcome, no need to book. We meet
at
We also provide a Support Group for people experiencing
Mental Illness and/or emotional difficulties and their carers. Our group is
called “HOT” (Helping Ourselves Together) and meets every third Wednesday
evening each month at 7.00pm, at
If you wish to have a meeting or an information seminar in
your suburb or town in the south of
Our library is available business hours.
We have an extensive book and video library on many aspects of mental health and
illness suitable for people with disorders, carers and friends. Please provide
ID for borrowing privileges. 3 week borrowing period applies.
MindLine: 'Members' receive
an informative news sheet targeted to carer and consumer perspectives, 3 times
a year. If you would like to receive by email please send us your email
address.
Donations to cover postage gratefully received although 'membership' is free.
Your donation will help us help other families too.
Help-Line: Talk to another
person who has experienced the impact of mental illness on the family:
Phone (03) 6228 7448.
We try to cover the Help-Line 24hours, 7 days, however, if by chance we are not manning the phone, our answer machines will ensure we are not far away, please leave your name and a contact number so we can call you back.
Workshops:
We hold workshops covering the many aspects of mental illness, usually in
spring and autumn. The workshops cover topics such as:
- Communication skills,
- Basic information about causes and types of mental illness,
- How to respond more appropriately to disturbed behaviour and distress,
- Street drugs, and addictive behaviours,
- Suicide,
- Self care.
Call to make a booking: a nominal fee is charged to cover materials.
ARAFMI aims to:
* Provide emotional support for carers and families of people who have a mental
illness
* Provide accurate information for carers
* Increase community awareness and understanding of mental illness and
disorders
* Decrease the stigma attached to mental illness and disorders
* Convey the needs of carers to health care professionals.
Funded by Mental Health Services
Other supporters include Australia Post, Rotary Hobart, Australian Newsprint
Mills, National Australia Bank, Australian Ethical Investments Ltd.,
Mindline No 20 Mindline No 21 Mindline No 22 Mindline No 23 Mindline No 24
Mindline No 25 Mindline No 26 Mindline No 28
Support Booklet ARAFMI Links Carer Survey
List of Southern Tasmanian organisations Multilingual Leaflets for Carers
This page was last updated on June 2008.
Published by Relatives & Friends of People with Mental
Illness