An NSW insurer and care provider has forged a new partnership to support brain injury patients.
In an Australian first, icare has teamed up with the University of Sydney’s Brain and Mind Centre, the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatry, and the Northern Sydney Local Health District to establish three psychiatry fellowships in brain injury for advanced trainees, with the icare Foundation injecting $1.5 million in funds to the fellowships over three years.
The specialist fellowship training seeks to address the complex behavioural and mental-health needs of participants with brain injuries and to support them in their rehabilitation and reintegration into the community.
“Mental-health conditions are commonly experienced by people with a brain injury and can often require specialist management,” said Suzanne Lulham, general manager of care innovation and excellence at icare. “There are only a very small number of psychiatrists in NSW who specialise in this clinical area so we’re hoping to change that.”
According to icare, 70% of its Lifetime Care participants have a brain injury and 50% of those have a mental health condition.
“We want to be able to address complex behavioural and mental-health needs and optimise the lives of participants with a brain injury. The aim is that we will be able to support them as they go through their rehabilitation and reintegration into the community,” Lulham said.
