Brimbank-Melton Infant, Child and Family Mental Health and Wellbeing Hub

Mental health and wellbeing hubs provide an easy and accessible way to get treatment, care and support for mental health concerns—somewhere between a GP and acute care. The Brimbank-Melton area in Melbourne’s west is home to diverse communities including some with quite specific needs, like the Vietnamese, Indian and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. We worked shoulder-to-shoulder with these communities to co-create the end-to-end experience of hub access and usage, keeping diverse community needs at the forefront.

We collaborated with clinical practitioners, service providers, and 42 community representatives to co-produce* a detailed service design. Together, we developed a community-led vision for the hub and the key principles required for its success. We mapped the drivers and barriers the community might face, and described the precise mechanics required to deliver effective mental health services. We used a scenario-driven approach to capture the team’s knowledge and insights in future-state service blueprints that outline actions and sequencing for effective service delivery. * Co-production goes beyond co-design (designing together)—it includes lived experience throughout planning, design, delivery and evaluation.

We now have a desirable, viable, and feasible solution that solves community-identified-and-defined problems. As a group, we have co-designed the new infant, child and family hub as a meeting place, a place to learn new things—somewhere that feels a little like home. “It feels like a good environment to make me feel comfortable and at home … it's really good for us. Sometimes it's hard for parents to know where to go or who to ask for help.” —Participant “I leave the hub feeling culturally strong, feeling happy, and complete that we get our needs met.” —Participant

We’re helping establish best practices in co-production in a complex setting. By developing a community-led strategy and artefacts we are providing a pathway to scale inclusive design, collaboration and practical innovation. The Hub workforce have participated in an end-to-end design process and they now have the network, process, and momentum to build out their framework for ongoing community co-design and co-production. Our work together established pathways for the community to continue to have a meaningful impact on the future operation of the service. There is a sense of excitement from the community to not only access the Hub but to contribute to its future. “I wish there are more [opportunities] like this where I can take part to voice my ideas/thoughts” -Community participant “I feel so much more confident about blueprinting now. It was so interesting to see where the gaps are in process or service and to now be able to prioritise what's most urgent to address. We really appreciate everything you've done to help support this program and model.” —Workforce participant