The Hospital Research Foundation Group supports a world-class research institute focused on optimising the health and wellbeing of this group.
Called Military and Emergency Services Health Australia (MESHA), the patient-centred institute aims to empower all service personnel and their families to live fulfilling, meaningful lives regardless of their past experiences.
Co-located at the Jamie Larcombe Centre (a veteran’s mental health precinct at Glenside in Adelaide), MESHA is well-placed to actively inform and improve policy, programs and services for current and former serving Australian military and emergency service personnel and their families.
Military and Emergency Services Health Support
1. Offering current and former military members and emergency services personnel living with, or at risk of, Post-Traumatic Stress access to a peer-led 12-week counselling program called GEARS which aims to build participants’ confidence and resilience, help them develop stronger and healthier relationships and identify unhealthy coping mechanisms.
2. Offering ex-serving military members access to workshops called StoryRight and MindRight which provide the tools to help them transition to civilian life and translate their military skills into language that can be understood by the wider community, helping them apply for jobs and rebuild their identity.
Supporting people who are battling service-related trauma and mental illness by providing one-on-one or group art therapy sessions; drama therapy; access to the Invictus sports program; and more to aid their treatment and recovery.
Who this benefits
Invictus Pathways participant Darren Peters and family are hugely grateful for this support.
Funding the purchase of young Labradors to be trained as assistance dogs for people living with Post-Traumatic Stress through Integra Service Dogs Australia; and evaluating the positive impact assistance dogs have on the lives of veterans and first responders.
Assistance dogs help people like Trevor manage their Post-Traumatic Stress.
Conducting many world-first research projects on the mental health of military members and emergency services workers, including the stigma linked to service; how to support people to seek help; the roles of and impact on families; the unique needs of volunteers and females; transitioning to civilian life; using simulation technology to build resilience; and much more.
Providing a grant to help volunteers firefighters rebuild their homes after they were destroyed in the 2020 bushfires; and supporting a trauma-informed arts workshop program called Regeneration to assist the psychological recovery of bushfire-affected communities.
More than 70 CFS firefighters lost their homes across South Australia in the devastating fires.
