While you are a client at Orygen Specialist Program a team of professionals will be involved in your treatment and care, including case managers, doctors and staff who are available to help you if you require urgent support.
This treating team includes:
Case Managers
When you first come to Orygen Specialist Program you will be linked with a case manager, who will be your main point of contact while you’re a client at the service. Case managers have all sorts of experience, backgrounds and qualifications. Your case manager will be a qualified clinical psychologist, social worker, occupational therapist or mental health nurse.
Your case manager will:
- Provide information about the mental health issues you are experiencing
- Offer individual treatment that will help in your recovery; for example, counselling
- Help you work towards your recovery goals
- Link you to services within Orygen and outside that may be able to assist you with a variety of things such as education, money matters, accommodation or employment
Doctors
As well as a case manager, you may be assigned a doctor who will work with you and your case manager, and anyone else involved, to understand the difficulties you are experiencing and the best way to treat them. In most cases, doctors will be psychiatrists (doctors who are specially qualified in treating mental illness) or registrars (doctors training to be psychiatrists).
Your doctor will work as part of your treating team to:
- Diagnose the mental health issue you are experiencing
- Make sure that the mental health issue isn’t caused by a physical illness
- Develop plans for treatment including the use of medication
- Check in on your recovery throughout your time with the service
Inpatient Unit Team
The team of staff at the Inpatient Unit (Footscray IPU) is made up of lots of different professionals who provide comprehensive care to young people who need to have a short stay in hospital to get their wellness back on track.
The team at the IPU includes:
- Doctors
- Registrars (doctors training to be psychiatrists)
- Nurses
- Allied health staff and group workers (who plan fun activities to meet your needs)
At the IPU, you also have access to:
- Peer support workers (who are young people who used to be clients at Orygen)
- Hospital chaplain (bookings upon request) who can offer comfort and spiritual support
Duty Workers
Duty workers are case managers who are able to help you with urgent matters if your usual case manager and doctor are unavailable.
Duty workers are available during business hours via telephone (9342 2800) and at the Parkville site if you require some assistance.
Duty workers are bound by the same confidentiality rules as your case manager, and they have access to your file where they will make notes so that your case manager can follow up.
YAT (Youth Access Team)
YAT stands for Youth Access Team and you may have already met them when you were first referred.
YAT can provide crisis intervention and home-based treatment for young people who require this level of support outside of business hours, and can’t wait to meet with their case manager.
YAT are contactable 7 days a week. Overnight calls to YAT are managed by the Centralised Triage Service. Both of these teams will let your case manager know you have contacted them.
YAT are bound by the rules of confidentiality and will make notes in your file whenever you contact them.
You can call YAT on: 1800 888 320
This information is in our Who provides your care (PDF) factsheet